Canadian journalists reported that Rob Ford isn’t running for mayor again. There are a lot of moments we could focus on here, from Ford calling Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale a pedophile to how Ford always manages to appear comical in photos to seeing him get autotuned along with reporter Robyn Doolittle, who wrote the book on the whole thing. But, for now, here are three that are worth remembering.
1. Journalists learned the difference between asking the right question and asking the right question. Or not.
Rob Ford: "Yes I have smoked crack cocaine"
— robyndoolittle (@robyndoolittle) November 5, 2013
Mayor Rob Ford: "I wasn't lying. You didn't ask the correct questions."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 5, 2013
For the record, Ford was asked many, many times in May and June whether he has ever smoked crack.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 5, 2013
He was also asked *yesterday*, twice, but he dodged, saying he's "not an addict." What prompted the admission today?
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 5, 2013
2. Gawker broke the story, fought back against the Star calling it an exclusive, then kind of made up (at least with Doolittle.)
3. Journalism went on trial. Journalism won.
In November, I wrote about how the Toronto Star was telling the Ford story. Part of the newspaper’s experience included having to go on trial before the Ontario Press Council (the Globe and Mail did, too.)
Two complaints filed with the Ontario Press Council, (you can read them both here and here,) lead to the Star, and later the Globe and Mail, to appear before the council in October. The council found no fault with the standards the Star followed: “the press council wrote that the story was in the public interest, that the reporters were thorough in analyzing the video that appeared to show the mayor smoking crack and making homophobic and racial slurs, and that Ford was given adequate opportunity to respond to the allegations before the story was published,” the Star reported. The Globe and Mail’s story was also cleared.
Rob Ford and the video: Now, do you believe the Star? http://t.co/utOsUuWyVY @kathyenglish
— TorontoStar (@TorontoStar) October 31, 2013
