Watch out, the Toronto Star's spin machine is working on full force now that Rob Ford is leading the Polls in the Toronto Mayoral Race.
Usually the Star tries to be more under-handed in their attempts to glorify George Smitherman, while destroying Rob Ford, but their latest attempt in an article released today just went above-and-beyond their norm.
Here's the story from the Toronto Star:
WARNING: The following article from the Toronto Star contains desperate and blatant manipulation, and therefore should be taken for exactly that and nothing more.
Ford and Palin: political mates?
Like Palin, Ford’s blunt if often blundering talk resonates with frustrated voters
Is Rob Ford the Sarah Palin of Toronto’s mayoral race? From his own campaign: You betcha.
Like Palin, Ford has been largely dismissed by the political mainstream. His frequent blunders are fodder for critics who say he is incompetent and unfit to lead. Yet his message of fiscal responsibility and smaller government clearly resonates with voters, much to the annoyance of colleagues on council and mayoral opponents.
Two polls released this week show Ford in a dead heat with former frontrunner George Smitherman. The bombastic gaffe-machine is now trouncing both the current deputy mayor and former director of the national Liberal party.
“People are tired of all these slick, fast-talking politicians,” said Doug Ford, who is managing his brother’s campaign. “The elitists of Toronto, or the establishment, are not voting for Rob, (but) the liberals are.”
Ford’s team has been frustrated with how the “left-wing” media has covered the campaign so far, said the elder Ford brother.
“It’s the same way Sarah Palin was treated” during the presidential election, he said.
When asked whether he saw similarities between his appeal and Palin’s, the candidate responded in typical Ford fashion.
“I’ve never really followed Sarah Palin — my heart is in municipal politics. I know she’s attractive. So all right, if I’m as good looking as she is, then all right, I’ll take that as a compliment,” he said with a good-natured chuckle.
Doug Ford says his brother is, ideologically, a social liberal who plans to redirect savings from cutting back waste to social programs. Media attempts to link Ford to the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement or any of Palin’s policies are just another example of the bias against him, he added.
“I compare Rob to grassroots, blue-collar workers. He’s out there for the little guy, the working-class person who is tired of overpaying the high taxes and not getting any services,” he said.
The Star reporter shamelessly pushed Sarah Palin related "trap"questions on to Rob Ford and his brother Doug, and then twisted and spinned their answers to make it seem like they agree with the Ford-Palin likeness.
You know, the good old ask them if they're like a popular controversial politician, and if they say no, "oh, they insulted that person", and if they say yes, then "they're exactly the same as that person". You're damned if you do, and damned if you don't. A manipulative journalist's gold.
And given that I feel that Sarah Palin is an idiot, especially after watching her in the US Presidential Debates, having the Star compare Rob Ford to her really got me fuming...
Anyway, eventually Doug Ford cleared everything up by saying that the media likes to use that Sara Palin manipulative tactic to discredit Rob Ford. And yet, the Star still chose to start their article with the sentence, "Is Rob Ford the Sarah Palin of Toronto’s mayoral race? From his own campaign: You betcha."
Shameless and disgusting... Especially for a legitimate news organization... One of which I am an avid reader!
Anyway, the Star goes on and on berating Rob Ford as much as they can in 1000 words or less, so I won't bother quoting all of that over here. If you want to read it, feel free to click on the article link above.
But hopefully you get the point.
Regardless of what you read in the newspapers, most specifically the Toronto Star, make sure that you are watching out for the manipulation and focusing on the facts.
Make an educated decision this election. You, unlike the Star, won't be getting highly coveted press opportunities by backing and supporting their choice of candidate.
--jackandcokewithalime
(Image:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/goaskaliceithinkshewillknow/4081044855/sizes/l/ by go ask alice... on flickr
)
2 comments:
Having read the Toronto Sun, it's largely the other way around. The Toronto Sun glorifies Ford to the nth degree, trying blatantly to discredit the other candidates in the race. This happens in virtually every media outlet. It's natural.
I agree Randay047, and usually I just leave these things alone (they can't be helped). But this time this article was some next-level blatant manipulation, so much so that I had to comment on it...
I mean, they misconstrued facts that were clearly quoted in their own article!
I would do the same if the Toronto Sun went to the same lengths as the Star did this time. Feel free to point out any other cases in the Toronto Sun which pushed manipulation to the same level, and I will gladly write a post on it -regardless of whether they are glorifying Rob Ford, or discrediting anyone else (like Sarah Thomson wink, wink).
Again, under-handed manipulation, I'll let it go...most of the time. But blatant manipulation, no way!
--jackandcokewithalime
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