Debunking a myth: Lesley Stahl's legendary 1984 campaign news segment

There has been widespread discussion about a CBS News piece by Lesley Stahl on Ronald Reagan's 1984 campaign. She was critical of Reagan, but Deputy Chief of Staff Richard Darman stated that the strong and emotional pictures used in the piece overwhelmed the spoken word, thus benefiting Reagan. Close investigation reveals that this story does not live up to its reputation of validating the view that pictures are more powerful than words. In fact, the powerful pictures were accompanied by a narration that explicitly acknowledged Reagan's strengths but made only vague criticisms. In this way, it backed up the messages in the positive pictures.