Ford to Toronto: Don't read the news

Tonington

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 27, 2006
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“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.

In the US, you would also have all the media outlets coming to the defense of the targeted organization. Anyone remember Obama and FOXNews? Though I haven't seen any Toronto media supporting Ford's decision.
 

Vaessen

Nominee Member
Oct 30, 2011
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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.


No, they did take a side though. They took an obviously false side. They irresponsibly reported something without proper proof as a hit piece to a politician. They just lied. My version of journalism is reporting the truth. This shouldn't have passed the editorial room. It should have been floor killed. It was sensationalism. The supposed victim denies anything happened. That should be enough to do the responsible thing and kill the story.
 

mentalfloss

Prickly Curmudgeon Smiter
Jun 28, 2010
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No, they did take a side though. They took an obviously false side. They irresponsibly reported something without proper proof as a hit piece to a politician. They just lied. My version of journalism is reporting the truth. This shouldn't have passed the editorial room. It should have been floor killed. It was sensationalism. The supposed victim denies anything happened. That should be enough to do the responsible thing and kill the story.

Can you clarify a bit more on this?

Do you have a link to the story?
 

DurkaDurka

Internet Lawyer
Mar 15, 2006
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Toronto
The Star certainly isn't Ford or Conservative friendly but stories like this just add more fuel to the "Hi, I'm Rob Ford and I'm illiterate" theories going around the city.
 

mentalfloss

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Jun 28, 2010
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Rob Ford site redirected to news nemesis

Someone in cyberspace apparently objects to Toronto Mayor RobFord's plea that people stop reading a local newspaper frequently critical of his leadership.

The website Robford.ca, which was Ford's website when he was a councillor, took web surfers Tuesday to a mostly blank page that said, "Rob, we're sorry!!" before forwarding them to the web site of the Toronto Star — the daily newspaper that Ford refuses to speak to, does not send news releases to, and which he has asked Torontonians not to read.

The site was not hacked: It was once Ford's — from at least October 2007 — and showed his voting record and council expenses. The site's ownership was allowed to lapse and on Nov. 16 it was purchased by an unknown buyer.

The website's new owner has changed the site several times throughout the day with various jokes about Ford, including placing him in a beauty contest against fictional soap opera character Bobby Ford and Jesse James-killer Robert Ford.

The online mockery comes shortly after Torstar Corp. said it planned to file a complaint with council's integrity commissioner about Ford's exclusion of the Star from official communications.

Ford says he won't deal with the Star until it issues a front-page apology for a 2010 article he says was false. He recently said during a radio interview that Torontonians should read the other three major newspapers in the city, but not the Star.

Ford is not the first prominent Canadian politician to have his name used on the web at his expense. Former New Brunswick premier Bernard Lord and former Liberal MP Don Boudria are among the politicians who have had their names snapped up by web savvy users making a point.

In 2005, comedian Rick Mercer bought www.jasonkenney.org after Conservative MP Jason Kenney called Boudria ignorant for not registering his domain name.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/12/06/toronto-rob-ford-star-website.html