Toronto Star – soft on Ford

alphainventions

I read an article in the Toronto Star today regarding them not accepting an award from the John Howard Society.  For those of you who don’t know, the John Howard Society tries to reintegrate criminals back into society by giving them a support network.  The offered their “Crime and Punishment” award to the Star for an investigative piece they did.  The Star refused because they might have to investigate the John Howard Society.  If you’ve read my blog, you can see why I wonder about the double standard they seem to ignore.  Just goes to show that money conquers all ethics.

Below is my letter to the editor:

 

“Winning isn’t everything at Star”, so stated Kathy English.  So is investigative reporting, based on what I have observed.  In not accepting an award from a very worthwhile organization, The John Howard Society, the Star team stated: “We obviously can’t be accepting awards from groups we might end up covering”.  If you knew my background you would probably be surprised to see me defending The John Howard Society. 

 

Based on your statement, I wonder why you accept advertising from various companies unless, you don’t investigate advertisers and focus your investigative reporting on those without a financial interest in your paper. 

 

For instance, you are aware of Ford building F150’s with a leaky front window and not telling the consumer.  As a result, the consumer is faced with thousands of dollars of repairs that could have been avoided if Ford’s ethics were a little higher.  If you knew that the police were aware of certain information and didn’t act, you’d be on them like white on rice.  Oh, I forgot, you did a story on Jane Doe. Hmmm, but then the police aren’t advertisers.

 

Below English’s column was a piece by Governor General Michaelle Jean on “Journalism’s vital role in society”.  I recommend your team read it.  She reflected on “the example set by those journalists who pursued the truth, often risking their lives to do so”, and noted, “information in the service of truth won over inaction every time.”  I guess you don’t believe in this in regards to advertisers like Ford. 

 

Sorry, but your team is obviously biased.  Too bad, that award would have looked nice up on your wall, along with the advertising copy.

alphainventions

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