I've said it again and again, this is the first time you've seen it. However, the problem with the idea that 'The Star is out to get Rob Ford' is that it takes everything and places it in a Conservative viewpoint that everything Ford does is correct. Yes, the KFC video is asinine and their reporting sometimes makes me roll my eyes but most of the time, the Star is simply reporting what happens. It's not that they're targeting him as much as he says, it's that Ford's conduct naturally lends itself to controversy. Look at his handing out of magnets at Peter Worthington's funeral, his self-proclaimed weight-loss attempt (which really brought attention to his weight), the skirting of rules, the half-truths and lies (subways for free, saving billions of dollars) and his vicious and sometimes unsubstantiated attacks and smearing of others. Really, he's the one who brings most of it to himself, and then claims persecution.
Moreso, the Star isn't questioning Ford just because he's conservative. They've criticized Miller in the past (Royson James especially), and were the ones behind revealing ORNGE and EHealth, things that have seriously damaged the provincial Liberal's credibility and chances of reelection. The Sun, I'd say was even more vicious in their attacks on Miller than the Star is on Ford.
Really, I see the Star as the Ying to the Sun and National Post's Yang. The fact that Ford's claim of constant persecution is another of his half-truths, and manufactured by him and Conservative media in this city. It's just too bad that people believe that. But guess what? Most people don't look into the details or spend hours a day discussing these issues like some of the members here do.
Maybe it's a symbol of media cynicism and political detachment that taken hold of the western world today.
The Star is definitely justified in some of its reporting and Ford brings much of the controversy on himself - that being said, for every story suitable for print, there's a bunch more that just aren't.
You bring up some good examples of things the Star was justified reporting on (magnets at Worthington's funeral, the weight-loss attempt), but there are plenty of things which they shouldn't have reported on (the KFC video, for instance, as well as placing magnets on cars).
What I take the most umbrage with though is when the Star has attempted, through obfuscation and clearly biased reporting, to mislead the public in regard to Ford. The Star does do a lot of decent reporting and has a lot of justified criticisms of Ford, but the following have all caused them to lose major credibility:
1) Printing a front-page story which purported that Ford assaulted a teenager. Yes, they were perfectly entitled to print allegations, but once it became clear that those allegations were completely false, the Star should have printed a front-page retraction or apology.
2) Printing three-week old poll numbers on the front of the "GTA" section which implied Ford was losing ground. The date of the poll numbers was nowhere in the heading, subheading or lede. This was really a blatant attempt to mislead the public.
3) Political cartoons which well transgress the point of being satire and go into mean-spirited, mindless attacks, such as the Ford follies series:
http://www.davidparkins.com/ford.html. They're admittedly funny, but so outside the boundaries of good taste, particularly for a major daily.
4) Heather Mallick columns which just insult Ford based solely on his appearance and completely baseless assumptions. Royson James does good work, but its published alongside drivel from the likes of Mallick and Fiorto.
I truly think its almost undeniable that the Star has been unethical in their pursuit of Ford. I have no problem with criticisms or critiques of his policies nor do I have a problem with revealing scandals Ford is involved in (such as the crack scandal). However, in regard to Ford, the Star has crossed the line into actually fabricating stories, attacking his appearance, attempting to humiliate the man, stalking the man and publishing TMZ-style journalism (KFC video, the Mayor's cottage, etc).
If you guys think the Star is blameless, that's cool. The point of my original post is that whether you guys agree or not, the Star
has lost credibility with Torontonians. The polling numbers show that, and even Michael Cooke has acknowledged this (although he obviously comes at it from a different perspective than myself).
