PRESTOPUNDIT -- "An intense brain-buzz, guaranteed" (2blowhards)

The biggest industry in Los Angeles is the entertainment industry. The story the LA Times broke yesterday on Schwarzenegger was a story (for the most part) of sexual harassment on the job in the entertainment industry. Schwarzenegger is a major player in LA's biggest industry. And this industry is a central part of the Times' news beat. So if the Schwarzenegger harassment story was worth reporting today, it was worth reporting years ago -- when the story first came to light. Here you had a major story -- a story which no doubt goes beyond Mr. Schwarzenegger -- and the Times happily sat on its hands. Only when politics entered the equation did the Times motivate itself to act.

It's impossible to know just how big of a hit Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken. But it is clear already that the reputation of the LA Times has take a massive hit -- solidifying its reputation for biased and politicized news reporting. How stupid can the paper be? The most important thing a paper has to go on is credibility. But by shear stupidity of timing -- publishing "dirt" only five days away from an election -- the Times has managed to created the perception that it is not in the news business, it's in the business of producing "hits" on disfavored political cadidates -- i.e. it's in knee-cap busting business of Davis-style "puke" politics. Unbelievably dumb. Whether or not the perception reflects the truth -- as so many now believe.

Right on the Left Beach comes to similar conclusions.

UPDATE: Susan Estrich rips the LA Times:

What this story accomplishes is less an attack on Schwarzenegger than a smear on the press. It reaffirms everything that's wrong with the political process. Anonymous charges from years ago made in the closing days of a campaign undermine fair politics.

Facing these charges, a candidate has two choices. If he denies them, the story keeps building and overshadows everything else he does. Schwarzenegger's bold apology is a gamble to make the story go away. It may or may not work.

But here's my prediction, as a Californian: It's too late for the Los Angeles Times' charges to have much impact. People have made up their minds. This attack, coming as late as it does, from a newspaper that has been acting more like a cheerleader for Gray Davis than an objective source of information, will be dismissed by most people as more Davis-like dirty politics.

UPDATE: The editor of the Times defends his paper's behavior. Jill Stewart is not impressed, ""I think it was a planned hit by the L.A. Times .. You'd almost have to be working for the Democratic party to throw it out this late when you know Schwarzenegger would have no time to respond. It's staggering that the L.A. Times has done this."

UPDATE: The LA Times -- responding to pressure from PrestoPundit -- investigates the entertainment industry.