The constant flow of information from the internet has changed how we look at things. It's moved the goalposts quite a bit.
The passage of time hasn't helped people's memories either. Reagan was a great President and a popular one. He was also a deal maker and a compromiser from way back. There's no question that if we held him to the same standards we use today, he'd be considered a RINO sellout on FR by his second term. His ability to speak over the media against their bias created a mythology of its own, but that wouldn't work in an internet age.
He'd have gotten off much better than many of his contemporaries. Having an alternate source of media would have been far worse for the Democrats than the Republicans. Still, we're probably best to remember that things weren't always as rosy as we remember them.
OTOH, we need to remember that Reagan was indeed the best conservative "pro-America" president we've seen recently.
And that, to me, is the real point. We should remember that he wasn't as great as hindsight paints him. And thus we need to be more realistic about what we demand in a politician (who is, after all, a careerist, money-backed politician or you can't run).