[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[crazy canuck]

It wasn't pictures, they claim the saw the 90 second clip. Star said they saw it three times. Don't know if ford is a crack head or not, just saying this isn't an example of the fall of western journalism.

ok

Some reporter says he saw a video of dubious origin that had someone who looked like Ford smoking something that looked like it might have been crack.

Now that is journalism at its best!

[HVC]

If you were a journalist you wouldn't report that? Really?  In a trial would you use it as evidence?

[Barrister]

If you were a journalist you wouldn't report that? Really?  In a trial would you use it as evidence?

I would report it if I had the video.  Not based on "here's what the video I saw showed on it".

[Malthus]

Again, colour me dubious. The Star, and the media generally, has made a meal of reporting on Ford misdeeds - yet somehow, there is never any follow-up of actual corroboration.

It could of course be that they are all true, and Ford is just a lucky bastard. But sometimes it seems like they just plain are out to get him by hook or by crook, and don't care how thin the evidence is. One gets the impression that if it was anyone else, the evidence of a couple of dubious characters would not be so uncritically reported as a story. 

Mind you, Ford's an attractive guy to be a punching-bag - he's both dumb and ugly.

[Josephus]

You don't think they "lawyered" it?

The story is probably fine legally speaking (though I'm not an expert on defamation).  It's just stupid.

You could probably find some schizophrenic homeless guy who reports that Rob Ford anally rapes him every night.  You could print his story, but you'd look stupid doing it.  That's what has happened here.

Well, if a trusted, award-winning journalist saw video footage of said homeless guy being bum fucked, I'd say yeah, you have something there. Key here is, do you believe that a well-honed journalist has seen a video which he believes contains footage of Ford smoking crack? It's not some drug dealer just saying it, and The Star printed it.

That said, unless one of the people in the video comes forward, there's no way to prove the allegations--so it's not like Ford will get charged over this, or anything.

I believe it. it though.

[Josephus]

The Toronto star says they've seen it too. Two people from the star actually. So that's three people we know of from two news sources, one of which had no bone to pick with the mayor. It's not that the star read the gawker article and ran with it, they checked on their own and came to the same conclusion.

Some reporter says he saw a picture someone claimed was taken from a video of dubious origin that had someone who looked like Ford smoking something that looked like it might have been crack.

Now that is journalism at its best!

Actually you're wrong.

[Neil]

No journalist from the Star is 'trusted'.  Actually, they're all untrusted.

[Barrister]

Who said it: Diamond Joe Quimby or Rob Ford?

http://www.slate.com/blogs/crime/2013/05/17/rob_ford_crack_cocaine_simpsons_mayor_diamond_joe_quimby_or_toronto_mayor.html

Not all that funny though - most are painfully obvious.

[crazy canuck]

Well, if a trusted, award-winning journalist saw video footage of said homeless guy being bum fucked, I'd say yeah, you have something there.

If being an award winning journalist means anything then surely it means checking a source to makes sure it is legitimate...  Anyone can make a video look like anything they want.  Remember the eagle attacking the kid video?

Ford is an idiot.  But so is this reporter.

It might be true but this reporter does no service to the public not checking whether it is true or not before reporting it.

[Josephus]

 

On that note, I bid you all a good long weekend. Enjoy your families. Relax. have a few drinks.

[EDIT" Smiley is to BB's link, not to CC's above comment]

[crazy canuck]

Actually you're wrong.

You realize I was kidding about the "journalism at its best part" right?

[Josephus]

For the record, here's the Star reporter's credentials.

Kevin Donovan is an investigative reporter at the Star. He has won three Canadian Association of Journalists Awards, one Michener Award and three National Newspaper Awards with the Star. He can be reached at 416-869-4425 or [email protected]. He has written ORNGE: The Star Investigation That Broke the Story, an exclusive Star Dispatches eRead available in the Star Store (starstore.ca).

[crazy canuck]

Does any of that mean he should be a good reporter.  And if so why did he not wait to find out whether the video was legit?

[Maximus]

Well, if a trusted, award-winning journalist

[HVC]

Now you guys are just being mean to Josephus