What Ford is telling Torontonians about his Star freeze-out

Below is the response Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is emailing to people who contact his office complaining about the fact that Toronto Star's city hall bureau has not received official communications from his office since January.  Ford is technically correct in saying the bureau gets news releases and other communications from the "City of Toronto" -- the communications arm of the bureaucracy. He does not acknowledge that news releases, statements and other communications from his office do not go to Star reporters, who were told in January that they were being taken off the list at his request. (The bold type is at it appears in the original message)

From: Mayor Ford [mailto:Mayor_Ford@toronto.ca]

Sent: Friday, December 02, 2011 11:39 AM

Subject: Re: Boycotting the Star

 

Thank you for your email regarding the relationship with the Mayor's Office and the Toronto Star.  This is an issue that stems from a factually incorrect article the paper wrote while I was a candidate for Mayor.  The Toronto Star has still taken no responsibility for their mistake.

To be perfectly clear, 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.

As the Mayor of Toronto, I'm accountable for my actions and I believe the media also has an equal responsibility to provide the facts to their audience to whom they are accountable

I appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns. Please feel free to contact my office again at any time.

Yours truly,

Mayor Rob Ford

City of Toronto