Veteran political columnist Eric Dowd says the Toronto Sun showed admirable restraint in its coverage of Sue-Ann Levy's byelection run in the provincial riding of St. Paul's.
The same can not be said for its coverage of Peter Worthington's federal attempts way back when all kinds of Sun columnists supported him in print, even the restaurant writer, says Dowd's Queen's Park piece in the Orangeville Citizen.
"This unbalanced support by a newspaper for one of its own may have turned off readers, because Worthington lost. (Incidentally, he deserves some praise, because in his eighties he still writes lucid columns almost daily and may be the oldest full-time writer for papers in Canada.)"
Dowd notes while pro-Levy comments were published in the Sun during her unsuccessful bid, the tabloid "gave equal space and praise to all candidates."
He says the Sun's conduct this time around "was a big step forward for journalism."
The same can not be said for its coverage of Peter Worthington's federal attempts way back when all kinds of Sun columnists supported him in print, even the restaurant writer, says Dowd's Queen's Park piece in the Orangeville Citizen.
"This unbalanced support by a newspaper for one of its own may have turned off readers, because Worthington lost. (Incidentally, he deserves some praise, because in his eighties he still writes lucid columns almost daily and may be the oldest full-time writer for papers in Canada.)"
Dowd notes while pro-Levy comments were published in the Sun during her unsuccessful bid, the tabloid "gave equal space and praise to all candidates."
He says the Sun's conduct this time around "was a big step forward for journalism."
How times have changed.
ReplyDeleteRemember the Toronto Sun's slanted coverage of the Mel Lastman -Barbara Hall mayoral race. How heavily biased was that? I recall Lastman's own people sending in assignments to the news desk and also killing certain stories.
Remember Mike Harris's first election as premier: heavily biased coverage during the campaign followed by slanted coverage during his term. I recall many stories that were spiked because they made Harris look bad.
Why was the coverage of these two politicians so slanted? They have one thing in common. If you worked at TorSun during those years, then you should know.