Former Los Angeles Times reporter Jill Stewart worked with the paper for seven years, quitting because she felt that the paper frequently squashed important stories. Stewart recently wrote about her 1997 story, published in an alternative paper, the now-defunct New Times, "My article . . . detailed how (then Lieutenant Governor/gubernatorial candidate) Davis flew into a rage one day because female staffers had rearranged framed artwork on the walls of his office. He so violently shoved his loyal, 62-year-old secretary out of a doorway that she suffered a breakdown. . . . Another woman . . . had the unhappy chore in the mid-1990s of informing Davis that a fundraising source had dried up. . . . Davis began screaming the f-word at the top of his lungs. The woman stood to demand that he stop speaking to her that way, and, she says, Davis grabbed her by the shoulders and 'shook me until my teeth rattled. I was so stunned I said, 'Good God, Gray! Stop and look at what you are doing. Think what you are doing to me!'"
The Los Angeles Times, despite having this story -- Stewart says she "crossed paths" with their reporters while working on hers -- never published any allegations of Davis' physical and verbal abuse of his employees. Why? Stewart claims the paper cited its policy of refusing to run negative stories on major "public figures" while using anonymous sources.
Yet, in Schwarzenegger's case, the newspaper apparently abandoned its own policy by using allegations of four women who refused to disclose their names! Did the Los Angeles Times, for this recall election, send several reporters who spent seven weeks investigating allegations of verbal and physical misconduct against Governor Gray Davis? And why did the Los Angeles Times reveal the allegations only days before the October election? Stewart claims -- and the Times denies -- that the paper knew of the allegations at least two weeks ago, but sat on the story. Could it be that the Los Angeles Times waited to pull the trigger until a poll showed Schwarzenegger ahead in the race?
Who knows. But the whole thing reeks of a double standard. Bill Clinton remains popular despite women who came forth such as Paula Jones, Gennifer Flowers, Kathleen Willey and Juanita Broaddrick, alleging everything from groping to rape. But, as we all know, Republicans face a higher standard than do Democrats. In any case, this failed to stop The Terminator.