Ford to Toronto: Don't read the news

[mentalfloss]

Mayor Rob Ford to Toronto: Don’t read the Star

Mayor Rob Ford is urging the people of Toronto to join him in his boycott of the Toronto Star.

“I have no respect for the Toronto Star whatsoever. If people want to read a paper, pick up the Globe, Post or Sun. That’s what I encourage people to do,” Ford said on Friday morning.

Speaking on John Oakley’s talk show on AM 640, Ford revealed the extent of his personal animosity toward the newspaper, criticizing its journalism far more strongly than he had previously during his mayoral term and suggesting he was denying official communications to its reporters because he believes they are covering him unfairly.

Ford’s remarks are unusual for a sitting mayor. He made them despite public and private warnings from some of his council allies that his public antagonism toward the city’s best-read newspaper is hurting him.

John Honderich, chair of Torstar Corp., wrote Thursday that the Star would file a complaint with council’s integrity commissioner over the mayor’s exclusion of its reporters from the email list he uses to notify the media of his appearances and public statements.

Ford has regularly said he will not budge until the Star makes a front-page apology for a 2010 article he says was false. The article said he was asked to stop coaching football at a North York high school in 2001 after a confrontation with a high school football player he coached.

The article, which Star editors stand by, cited the accounts of two witnesses who said the altercation was merely verbal and two who said Ford made aggressive physical contact with the player. Ford has maintained, as he was quoted as saying in the article, that he never touched the player, who later told another newspaper that Ford was correct.

Ford has usually said that he is freezing out the Star solely because it refuses to apologize for the article about the confrontation. In his Friday comments, he said he is also doing so in part because he is generally displeased with its stories about him. “If they don’t like me, fine. So why do you want to talk to me? If you’re gonna write, and twist stories, invent stories, the way they want to, that’s up to them. So I don’t want anything to do with it,” he said.

Honderich wrote that the complaint would not try to compel Ford to speak to Star reporters, only to stop excluding them from the email list through which he distributes official communications such as press releases.

When Oakley asked why Ford would not send the Star press releases, he said: “This is so ridiculous. We might have sent out five press releases. And at City Hall there’s a press gallery. You send only one press release, everybody gets it. It’s like one big family.”

It is incorrect that the mayor’s office sends a single press release to the press gallery to share — though the Star has indeed been forced to receive Ford’s releases from kind reporters at competing media outlets.

Ford continued: “The bottom line is, I won’t give them an interview. I do not want to talk to them. If they want to trash me, and do whatever they continue to do, that’s up to them, that’s their prerogative.”

His comments came a day after his brother, Councillor Doug Ford, said the mayor wouldn’t talk to the Star under any circumstances until it issues a front-page apology for the article about the football confrontation.

“You can quote me: if you apologize on the front page, it’s done. You can go to the Supreme Court and try to get Rob to talk to the Star — he won’t talk to you. He just won’t. Until you do it. It’s simple: put that one-liner (apology) in there, it’s over,” he said.

People close to the mayor, including some of his council allies, have advised him to normalize relations with the Star.

“When there’s this kind of brittle dispute, it taints both sides of the issue,” right-leaning Councillor James Pasternak said Thursday. “We’re losing sight of what we’re all here for — we’re here to run a great city and make it greater, and we have to support a free and open press. I strongly urge everybody involved to get together and try to come to some sort of soft landing.”

Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday said Thursday that he would make another attempt to talk Ford into a compromise. “I will mention to the mayor, and the mayor’s staff, that I think it’s better we resolve this between the two parties as opposed to getting the thing overblown into an integrity matter,” he said.

Honderich wrote: “Mayor Ford has no obligation to speak to or be interviewed by the Star. That is entirely his choice. However, when it comes to public press releases and public notifications from his office as mayor of all the people, that is another matter.”

The integrity commissioner, Janet Leiper, investigates complaints alleging that members of council have violated council’s code of conduct. She has limited powers; though she can recommend sanctions to council, council must vote to impose any.

Toronto News: Mayor Rob Ford to Toronto: Don

 

[TenPenny]

That's hilarious. People with thin skin should stay out of politics.

 

[mentalfloss]

That's hilarious. People with thin skin should stay out of politics.

Ford's (Sauron's) puppet Oakley (Saruman) is more than willing to pump his propaganda to commuters so why give credence to any dissenting voices?

 

[Vaessen]

I think this is funny. The media is so corrupt now, in Canada, USA, and pretty much every first world country. I encourage anyone to tell any of them to f*** off at any time. He should sue them. if they reported a BS story he should sue them for defamation of character. All of the athletes in Toronto should follow suit as well. These papers think they have the right to ruin people's lives. They won't cover real news because they only cover things favorably or unfavorably based on their advertisers, not their editors. I don't follow any mainstream news anymore. It's all misinformation anyways.

Ford's a total douche, we all know that, but I'm with him 100%. He's right , they're wrong.

 

[Walter]

I think this is funny. The media is so corrupt now, in Canada, USA, and pretty much every first world country. I encourage anyone to tell any of them to f*** off at any time. He should sue them. if they reported a BS story he should sue them for defamation of character. All of the athletes in Toronto should follow suit as well. These papers think they have the right to ruin people's lives. They won't cover real news because they only cover things favorably or unfavorably based on their advertisers, not their editors. I don't follow any mainstream news anymore. It's all misinformation anyways.

Ford's a total douche, we all know that, but I'm with him 100%. He's right , they're wrong.

I was all set to give you props but then you had to add the ad hominem about Ford; the rest of your post is spot on.

 

[lone wolf]

One-term mayor with a calling in drama....

 

[TenPenny]

I think this is funny. The media is so corrupt now, in Canada, USA, and pretty much every first world country. I encourage anyone to tell any of them to f*** off at any time. He should sue them. if they reported a BS story he should sue them for defamation of character. All of the athletes in Toronto should follow suit as well. These papers think they have the right to ruin people's lives. They won't cover real news because they only cover things favorably or unfavorably based on their advertisers, not their editors. I don't follow any mainstream news anymore. It's all misinformation anyways.

Ford's a total douche, we all know that, but I'm with him 100%. He's right , they're wrong.

You hate the media because they reported what witnesses said?

That makes perfect sense.

Keep your eyes covered, and your ears closed. Don't expose yourself to thoughts, it's dangerous.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Ford certainly needs a course on media relations. This is incident #2 where he has reacted badly to media (22 minutes being the 1st). He comes off looking like a fool.

That being said, I do enjoy the Saturday comics and puzzles from the Star so I will continue to subscribe.

 

[Vaessen]

I was all set to give you props but then you had to add the ad hominem about Ford; the rest of your post is spot on.

I wasn't saying anything about him politically. I just think that, in general, as a person, the general consensus is that he's a douche. I actually don't mind him.

You hate the media because they reported what witnesses said?

That makes perfect sense.

Keep your eyes covered, and your ears closed. Don't expose yourself to thoughts, it's dangerous.

It's that they report only one side of issues and in this case they neglected to report the truth. They should have reported that the supposed "victim" denies that any physical activity took place. That might be a key ingredient in the story, one would think, that the perp and the victim both deny any physical activity took place.

The problem with the media is that they are not true journalists. They are all spinning a story for outside reasons. I can't trust that any of them are reporting anything in a way that i respect. just the facts of the case. They sensationalize things. They misrepresent things. The Star is notoriously bad for this. Their sports department alone, is hated by all toronto professional athletes. They flat out lie and use "unnamed sources" to create stories that are total lies, not even just misrepresentations.

If you choose to believe everything you see or read, that's fine with me, it explains a lot about you. I, personally, try to see many sides of any issue and believe none of them completely. in today's day and age it is better to be skeptical of our media. They are proven liars.

 

[TenPenny]

It's that they report only one side of issues and in this case they neglected to report the truth.

I'm pretty sure that article mentioned they quoted witnesses who said there was, and witnesses who said there was not, physical contact.

Isn't that both sides?

 

[Vaessen]

I'm pretty sure that article mentioned they quoted witnesses who said there was, and witnesses who said there was not, physical contact.

Isn't that both sides?

no

it's neither side

neither the accuser or the accused

 

[TenPenny]

no

it's neither side

neither the accuser or the accused

Oh, I get it.

The Star is SUPPOSED to take sides, that's what's got you upset, they didn't automatically parrot whatever the mayor said.
That's your version of 'journalism', I take it.

 

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

Perhaps if the Star hadn't printed a bullsh!t story about Ford assaulting a young Football player during the election the Mayor might not consider them the bunch of partisan rat bags that they are. It was nothing short of slander. They should issue a re-traction and an apology that is long overdue.

I'm not a defender of Rob Ford, but the Star is a piece of propaganda sh!twipe that was so far up George Smitherman's anus they would have been able to check him for polyps.

By the way MF your title says don't read the News. Didn't you mean don't read The Star?

 

[mentalfloss]

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's media freeze likely a Canadian first

OTTAWA — The mayor of Toronto has boycotted one of Canada's largest newspapers, in a feud that many media experts say is likely a first in our country's history.

"This is quite an extraordinary event," said Jeff Sallot, a journalism professor at Carleton University. "An elected official, the most important municipal official in Canada's largest city, going to war with Canada's largest newspaper. I can't recall another thing like this in Canada."

On Thursday, in a front-page editorial, the Toronto Star announced it would file a formal complaint over the "Ford freeze"— Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's refusal, since he won the mayoral race over a year ago, to provide the newspaper with official notices or news releases.

The Star reported Ford's boycott stems from his "rage over a piece the Star ran during the mayoral election campaign about his conduct as a football coach." Ford threatened to sue the newspaper for libel, but never followed up.

But, on Friday, the mayor's office denied the Star's claims of a "freeze."

In a statement, the office said, "the Toronto Star receives all notifications, press releases, media advisories from the City of Toronto.

"Their reporters are welcomed into the mayor's office during media availabilities with the rest of the press gallery." In the same breath, while speaking on a Toronto radio news talk show on Friday morning, Ford urged Torontonians to boycott the Star. "I have no respect for the Toronto Star whatsoever," he said. "If people want to read a paper, pick up the Globe, Post or Sun. That's what I encourage people to do."

If Ford did, in fact, block the Toronto Star from access to news conferences, press releases, and interviews, it's not only unethical but a "dumb political move," said Sallot.

"It reminds you of Richard Nixon's enemies list, which included a number of prominent journalists in the United States," said Sallot.

In a memo dated Nov. 30, 1970, a White House aide to the then U.S. president suggested they prepare "a list of those who are and will continue to be our major opponents" with a purpose to "screw" his political enemies through tax audits. The "enemies list" included politicians, reporters and entertainers.

Sallot — who served as the Globe and Mail's bureau chief in Edmonton, Ottawa and Moscow — said media boycotts are much more commonplace in developing nations.

Last year, Reporters Without Borders said it was concerned about what it saw as discriminatory behaviour by the Mauritian government towards the country's leading newspaper, La Sentinelle. In a May 2010 blog post, the organization claimed the government recently had excluded La Sentinelle's journalists from a news conference held by the finance minister.

In February, the Jakarta Post reported that an Indonesian politician publicly accused three local media outlets of bias, and called for the government to boycott them. The media outlets filed complaints over the comments, to which the politician responded by accusing them of defamation and warning them to never attend any of his news conferences.

But media boycotts in Canada? Not a common scene, said Sallot.

But does vetting media questions — which usually do get answered after careful scrutiny and inspection — limit media access?

Not as much as outright refusing questions, said Concordia journalism professor Alan Conter.

Conter likened Rob Ford's war against the media to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's tight limits on media access during the recent election race, during which he only allowed five questions from reporters at each daily news conference during campaigning.

"With the five questions, it isn't just vetting questions, it is limiting access to the prime minister," said Conter. "So it is effectively blocking access to a whole bunch of people."

The concept, said Conter, seems to have inspired Ford in his war against the Toronto Star. But it goes against the democratic duty of public officials, he added.

"Public officials in a democratic country have the duty, if not to answer all the questions of every reporter, at least to disseminate amongst all media press briefings, announcements, all that sort of thing," said Conter. "To cherry pick who you send your releases to is fundamentally undemocratic."

In 2006, in the months after Harper first became prime minister, many journalists in the Parliamentary Press Gallery became increasingly frustrated with what they saw as his aides deliberately limiting information to the media about the prime minister's travels, restricting media access to cabinet ministers and trying to control which reporters get to question the prime minister at formal and informal news conferences.

Conter, who was once an executive producer for CBC Radio, said Harper's attempts to limit media access to Conservative cabinet ministers is "analogous" to what Ford is doing.

"The attempt here is just clumsier," he added.

Carleton journalism professor Barbara Freeman, who teaches a course on the history of Canadian media, said she is unaware of any similar past incidents of politicians boycotting the media.

"It does remind me of 18th century press environment in Canada when newspaper editors were almost totally reliant on government contracts to get by financially, and therefore were expected to toe the prerequisite political line," she added, in an email.

"So I guess we can say that Ford is being oh-so-three centuries ago."

Still, Freeman said she does believe Toronto taxpayers, some of whom are also Toronto Star readers, do have a right to be informed about city hall happenings.

Conter said he doesn't expect to see Ford's media boycott become a trend in the national political landscape.

The Toronto Star has managed to keep up its city hall coverage, despite apparently not being informed of events, mostly because competing outlets have passed on the information, he said. "Journalists have their own sort of rivalries and jealousies, but when government or even a corporation decides to boycott one major outlet, it just gets everybody else in the pack riled up and pretty eager to bring that particular person or corporation down," he said.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's media freeze likely a Canadian first


​

 

[CDNBear]

Ford came out looking like the frugal manager, that the city sorely needed. Now he's just shooting himself in the foot, and stuffing that foot in his mouth.

Oh well, it's not as if Tdot deserves anything better.

 

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

Should Ford allow entry to the National Enquirer as well?

Just wondering, because the Star and the Enquirer have similar journalistic standards.

 

[wulfie68]

I love how people that denigrate the Sun, try to defend the Star...

 

[mentalfloss]

I love how people that denigrate the Sun, try to defend the Star...

People are defending a certain freedom of the press. Even the bottom of the barrel (the Sun) should have that freedom.

 

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

It's really easy. All they have to do is retract their slanderous piece and issue an apology. The accusations leveled in this article were found to be baseless and the Star has never retracted or corrected them. You want to act like a tabloid you get treated like a tabloid.

The Star attempted all out character assassination during the election, hardly the act of a reputable paper.

Rob Ford told he was unwelcome as a football coach at Toronto high school

Published On Tue Jul 13 2010 Toronto Mayoral Race»

This material subject to legal complaint by Rob Ford.
Mayoral candidate Rob Ford was quietly asked to stop coaching football at a Toronto high school following an incident with a student player, say officials with the Toronto District School Board.
Ford was coaching at Newtonbrook Secondary School in North York in 2001 when he had a confrontation with a young player over poor performance on the field, say two witnesses who spoke with the Star on condition of anonymity.

Chris Spence, director of education for the Toronto District School Board, confirmed a dispute between a student and Ford was dealt with internally, although he was not aware of the details.
“Something did happen and they decided that he was no longer welcome to coach at Newtonbrook,” said Spence, himself a former pro football player who was not director of the board at the time.
Witnesses interviewed by the Star disagree on whether there was a physical confrontation between Ford and the student player.

Ford, one of his players and an assistant coach at the time deny any physical contact took place. But a parent and another player say Ford aggressively manhandled the student in anger.
Ford vigorously denied the allegations saying he’s never assaulted a player and called the claims a “political” attack on his candidacy.

“I’ve never, ever once gotten into a physical altercation with a player,” he said in an interview. “I’m in first in the mayor’s race. . . They’re going to do anything to stop me from becoming mayor of the city because they know when I become mayor, the party’s over. The gravy train is gonna come to an end and the wasteful spending will stop immediately.”

While he concedes a verbal dispute with a player, he says he walked away from the confrontation and later quit the team.

Since his departure from Newtonbrook, Ford has been coaching football in the Catholic board where he remains today at Don Bosco.

Details on the incident have remained tightly guarded despite Ford’s high profile as a city councillor and, now, mayoral candidate.

The TDSB has never before made its concerns over the incident — or Ford’s dismissal from his coaching duties at the school — public.

Newtonbrook principal Lynne Koffman did not respond to an interview request. And school vice-principal Katherine Armstrong declined to respond to questions during a telephone interview Monday.
Neither held their current positions when the incident occurred.

Mary Walker, communications supervisor with the Toronto Catholic board, said she was not aware of any allegations against Ford who has been coaching with the board for the past eight years.
“(It) is appreciated and he has continued his commitment to the students of Don Bosco who are in the football program,” she added.

Ford, who runs a philanthropic foundation that funds youth football in Toronto schools, is viewed by many school officials as a generous supporter of high school athletics across the city including Newtonbrook, Danforth Tech., Sir Sanford Fleming, Forest Hill Collegiate, Lester B. Pearson and C. W. Jefferies.
Ford “had shown lots of good will and was really generous,” said the TDSB’s Spence.

But questions about Ford’s on-field conduct have lingered for nearly a decade.


A 2001 Star story reported that “Ford's eagerness to help his team. . . has led to some nasty verbal exchanges with some Toronto District School Board teacher-coaches.”

Frustrated by his team’s performance during the game at Appleby College in Oakville in 2001, Ford allegedly approached a player with heated criticism, say two witnesses.

“To my horror and that of several other Newtonbrook parents in attendance as well as a large crowd of students, Mr. Ford went berserk,” said a parent who said he was in attendance that night watching his son play.

He ran out onto the field and “shook,” and “slapped” the student player, he said.

The referee and others on the Newtonbrook bench quickly intervened, and the player was “led away in tears,” he said.

The reason for the alleged outburst was clear, he said: “The young player had failed to perform up to the coach’s expectations throughout the game and had been singled out for discipline.”

The fact that Ford has been allowed to continue coaching is troubling, he said.

“It is outrageous that a person in a position of trust and responsibility such as a high school football coach could beat up a player in front of many witnesses and walk away with impunity.”

Ford’s account of the incident is much different.

He says he pulled the player in question off the field. When he arrived on the sidelines, the player threw down his helmet and told Ford to “f--- off.”

“I said, ‘Pardon me. He said, ‘You heard what I said.’”

“I left Newtonbrook on that day. . . because I couldn’t deal with a kid telling me off. . . I’ve never ever been dismissed.”

Simon Jr. Hall, a running back on the Newtonbrook team at the time who Ford presented to the Star as an interviewee, said he didn’t see any physical confrontation that night.

But he has a different recollection of Ford’s departure from the team.

“I remember him talking to us for the last time and telling us he’s sorry that (the school) didn’t want him here no more.”

“He was an aggressive coach. Not every player can handle an aggressive coach. But I think he got the best out of the players.”

A former Newtonbrook student who said he witnessed the incident as a Grade 10 player at the time recalled Ford grabbing another player by the throat after a disappointing play.

The teen said something to Ford prompting the coach to go after him.

Ford was allegedly restrained by several football players, and a teacher asked him to leave the game, said the Newtonbrook player who did not wish to give his name.

He recalled that Ford was often “in students’ faces,” and always “yelling and flipping out,” calling players “ass-----,” “jerks,” and “screw-ups.”

“It's not like that at the university level — my coaches now are not like that at all,” said the player who now plays football at a Canadian university.

He said the student who was allegedly assaulted didn’t go to the police as he “was more embarrassed than anything.”

TDSB’s Spence said he’s “going to assume that the school would have exercised due diligence and they would treat something like that, if it was an assault, very seriously and involve those who need to be involved in a situation like that.”

“Of course, we are always concerned about students and student safety, and we want volunteers to come and coach and to support what we try to do. We certainly have to ensure positive relations.”
When told of the specifics of the allegations from witnesses, Spence said “that sounds very serious . . . certainly those allegations would be of great concern to me, and I’m sure for any school that was thinking of bringing him on to coach.”

Ron Singer, Ford’s close friend and the assistant coach that day on the football field, dismisses the allegations saying he doesn’t recall any skirmish or physical contact between Ford and the player.
“The player screamed something to Rob. I can’t remember what he said. But from what I remember, Rob wasn’t even close to him.”

Singer, a candidate for city council who coached alongside Ford for several years, says his friend is “tough but fair” as a coach but has attracted criticism of some of his coaching peers.

“He’s strict and a number of coaches have told me he takes it too far,” said Singer, adding he knows nothing about Ford being removed from coaching in the public school board.

For example, Ford often benches players who miss practice — a policy that Singer supports but one that has earned criticism from some coaches, he says.

“He feels, and I feel, it’s not just coaching, it’s life lessons.”

Singer said he has no recollections of Ford using verbally abusive language with players.

“A lot of coaches are animated. But I don’t remember him using derogatory comments.”

I remember the run up to that election. Every day they were tossing out a new Rob Ford Scandal. I believe the Sun ran a story about DUI which Ford admitted along with possession of marijuana. But this story was a dirty piece of business and say what you want about Ford, he has helped a lot of kids through his coaching efforts.

Think how you would feel if someone posted an unsubstantiated story that you abused a youth with whom you were tasked with coaching. How would you feel if the story added up to nothing more than innuendo and the paper refused to retract.

My guess is that Ford will be working with kids long after he is Mayor and this was the ultimate in character assassination. F_ck The Star! It's a piece of garbage newspaper with 0 integrity.

If they don't want to retract I say freeze them out like any other tabloid rag.

 

[mentalfloss]

Mayor Ford’s freeze-out of Toronto Star has little precedent

Since taking office a year ago, his office has given the Star the silent treatment, leaving its reporters off the distribution list of communiqués, invitations to press conferences, and other announcements of official business.

On Friday, after the Star published a column by its publisher announcing the paper would file a formal complaint with the city’s integrity commissioner over the practice, the mayor told radio host John Oakley he still wouldn’t talk to the paper until it apologized. He also played down the effect of the freeze-out.

“This is so ridiculous,” he said. “We might have sent out five press releases. And at City Hall there’s a press gallery. You send only one press release, everybody gets it. It’s like one big family.”

Reporters at other outlets have, indeed, passed along communications from the mayor’s office to the Star. Still, Mayor Ford’s treatment of the newspaper appears to have little precedent. While plenty of politicians hold grudges against news outlets, withholding quotidian information that is freely communicated to other outlets is rare for the mayor of a North American metropolis.

“It couldn’t happen in the United States, because stuff like the mayor’s schedule and press releases are considered official government documents, and they have to be made available to anyone who requests them,” noted Kelly McBride, a faculty member with the Poynter Institute journalism school in St. Petersburg, Fla.

“That’s not to say there aren’t a number of mayors that have tried, but usually they’re really small town, ‘good ol’ boy’ kind of guys. This kind of behaviour is surprising, coming from a mayor in a city as big as Toronto.”

She added: “A public official who won’t communicate with the media, suggests to me that he doesn’t take his obligation to be responsive to the population that elected him, very seriously.” The Star is Canada’s largest city newspaper.

On Friday, Adrienne Batra, who announced she was stepping down as the mayor’s press secretary earlier this week, began her job as the Sun’s new comment editor.

Relations between politicians and the press have a fraught history, but they are in the midst of a transformation as officeholders are able to take their message straight to the people through alternative channels, like social media and niche outlets. After being embarrassed by an interview with NBC’s Katie Couric that left viewers with the impression that she didn’t read newspapers, the former U.S. politician Sarah Palin most often appeared in the friendlier environment of Fox News. Even so, she didn’t freeze out any single outlet that regularly covered her work as Governor of Alaska.

And other politicians are finding innovative ways to work with the press: Last month, the mayor of West Valley City, Utah, admitted he had used a fake name to write freelance stories about his city for local papers.

There is some evidence Mayor Ford may be sneaking in peeks at the Star on the sly: In expense reports submitted last month, he invoiced the city $389 for a one-year subscription to the paper. It expires Dec. 11.


Mayor Ford’s freeze-out of Toronto Star has little precedent - The Globe and Mail