“Der Gropenfuhrer muscles his way into office.”

“Will Arnold still follow the script during his first days in office?”

“How an actor did it.”

These are only three of the headlines from the LA Times that appeared on the news pages during and after the California recall election. Unlike editorial pages, the news sections of major newspapers are assumed to be objective.

And the Tooth Fairy is real.

The reality is that there is a media bias that extends throughout print and broadcast journalism. And sometimes that bias slants, or worse, interfere with the news. The California recall is an excellent example.

In the recall, the liberal press sensed that a Republican victory was possible and did everything it could to discredit Schwarzenegger, the front runner, often labeling him as “the actor,” “terminator,” or other condescending adjectives. When that didn’t work, as evidenced by their own polls, the press went after the voters, insinuating that anybody who would take the actor seriously was less than intelligent.

They also did everything they could to discredit the recall, labeling it a right wing conspiracy, the actions of a state gone slightly mad, and a threat to democracy.

Conversely, they portrayed Gov. Davis as a misunderstood victim of circumstance. They claimed that blaming the governor for the woes of California was unfair and vindictive. And, hedging their bets, they portrayed Cruz Bustamante as the only viable replacement candidate for Davis.

Despite their efforts, the liberal press could not turn the public to its own righteous cause, and resorted to the yellow journalism of smear tactics. They accused Schwarzenegger of groping dozens of women throughout his career and of being a Nazi sympathizer. The LA Times broke the story just days before the recall, claiming their extensive research and verification of the “facts” necessitated the late breaking “news.”

However, the attack-dog journalism of the LA Times did not discourage the voters either. The press underestimated the frustration of the voters in the California recall and they also experienced their own backlash; The LA Times was so inundated with cancellations and complaints that they felt the need to defend their journalism ethics after the election. Evidently, the voters knew the difference between news and smear.

Now that Schwarzenegger is in office, it is unlikely that the liberal press will credit him with any good that he does, and will certainly pounce on anything they can find to discredit him. The conservative right will undoubtedly anoint him as the savior of California. The public must work to find the whole truth.

Liberal and conservative print and broadcast media populate the airwaves and the presses. Fair and balanced, a slogan coined by the conservative leaning Fox News, is as hollow a statement at that media outlet as is the LA Times claiming its news reporting is unbiased.

To achieve balance, consumers of news must evaluate the source of the reporting to understand the bias being expressed, as well as reference other sources by reading and listening to news from outlets that express different points of view. There are many fine media outlets representing all sides of the political spectrum. Do not be satisfied with reading or listening only to news that spoon-feeds your own viewpoints to you.

Don’t limit your perspective. Continue to be intelligent news consumers, as was demonstrated in the recall. It is not likely that news organizations will get the message and actually balance their news reporting. It is up to you to dig for the fair and balanced.