That's not entirely true. Reagan's joke was during the microphone sound check, which by mutual agreement had always been off the record. By reporting the joke as a newsworthy comment, the drive-by media chose to throw out the relationship it had always enjoyed with the presidency, but the joke did not cause any noticeable controversy anc certainly not anything that lasted for weeks. There were some brief complaints from the most radical leftist peaceniks and some obligatory protests from the Soviet diplomatic corps, but it hardly rose to anything even close to howling and shreiking. In the end, the drive-by media looked foolish for reporting an off-the-record mic check.
Are you kidding me? I was with a foreign affairs agency at the time. The pin stripe suits and talking heads inside the D.C. beltway went nuts.