Leslie R. Stahl, co-editor of the CBS News program "60 Minutes," received the prestigious Goldsmith Award for Excellence in Journalism last night before a crowd of journalists, friends and admirers at the ARCO Forum.

In an anecdotal speech about her 30 year-career, Stahl, 58, accepted the award, which is to honor her lifetime achievement as an investigative journalist.

Moderator Marvin Kalb--director of the Shorenstein Center for the Press, Politics and Public Policy and a former colleague of Stahl's--introduced Stahl by telling a story from her years as a White House correspondent.

Stahl had written and anchored a report about the way in which President Ronald W. Reagan's advisers manipulated the press to present their boss's best face to the public, Kalb said.

Despite the story's content, Kalb said Reagan advisers loved it because it featured five minutes and 40 seconds--an eternity on an evening newscast--of the beaming president.

"Ever since then," Stahl said in her speech, "I've been fascinating by the power of pictures."

Stahl said in recent times, President Clinton and the first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, have effectively used visual images to their political advantage. The "game faces" of the duo helped them through the recent impeachment scandal, she said.

"They have both smiled their way through everything they've gone through," Stahl said. "Their faces say, 'Hey, we're not disgusted, we're not guilt-ridden, were not agonized, so why should you be?'"

The Clintons have used other images to boost their image, Stahl said.