Sexual Harassment and Arnold Schwarznegger

Paper Summary:

The writer of this paper discusses the timing of an article published in the "Los Angeles Times" during the midst of a recall election campaign in California, which reported alleged sexual improprieties by one of the major candidates. Just five days before the actual recall election, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was accused on the front page of the "Los Angeles Times" of having groped six women during the period between 1975 and 2000. This paper details the events that transpired after the release of the published article as well as the political motives of the "Los Angeles Times." Reaction from the Schwarzenegger camp was immediate and campaign aides denied the charges. The writer contends that the voters made their decision with all the facts, which is the job of a free press - to provide the public with the facts so that each voter may make his or her own decision.

From the Paper:

"Further contributing to the negative perception of the Times' reporting was the timing of the story just five days before the election. Contrasted with this was a 1992 story on sexual abuse allegations involving then presidential candidate Bill Clinton, on the eve of the presidential election, which the Los Angeles Times refused to investigate, calling it "toxic waste." What also didn't help the Times case for impartiality was the revelation that one of the women it quoted was urged to come forward by a woman who was a close advisor to Governor Gray Davis, Democratic activist Jodie Evans. When Times columnist George Skelton was asked why the link to Davis was not disclosed by the reporters, he speculated that maybe they did not know about it. What hurt the Los Angeles Times more than anything was not the publication of the Schwarzenegger story itself, but the perception, based upon past performance, that it was biased. Had it critically covered past indiscretions by Bill Clinton, defenders of the newspaper could have pointed that out as evidence of a consistent approach to covering this type of story. As it was, they could not explain why the Schwarzenegger story was covered, while Clinton received a pass."

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