QP Briefing Chose Ford Over the Truth

Though much has developed in terms of the provincial politics of Ontario and the municipal politics of Toronto in recent weeks, major pillar of the current fervor began when Queen’s Park (QP) Briefing had an internal dispute. This resulted in the resignation of reporter Charlie Pinkerton and the editor-in-chief Jessica Smith Cross on February 10. Though the story itself wouldn’t be reported for a couple of days, it was later reported on in the Toronto Star and Global News. The contents focused on developers, who are benefiting from the province’s sale of the Green Belt, attending the wedding of Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s daughter. It has since emerged that these developers contributed money to the Fords in exchange for attendance.

Though the Ontario integrity commissioner has cleared Ford in this instance, it should be noted that the decision was made strictly from communications with the Premier’s office, not an investigation. Put simply, there is more to this story than is publicly available at this time.

While this story is still developing, what has been brushed aside was the dispute that took place at QP Briefing before this story was reported. QP Briefing, a publication of iPolitics, is now owned in part by former TorStar owner Paul Rivett. As such, this issue is entrenched in private ownership of news media, and requires closer examination

The reporting done by Rachel Mendelson, Joanna Chiu and Sara Mojtehedzadeh at the Toronto Star is a crucial insight into the conflict that took place at QP Briefing. The Developer-Ford-Wedding story was apparently the subject of interference and meddling by higher-ups at the publication. Smith Cross said in her resignation letter that “the owners interfere with the journalism.” Pinkerton, replied to an email from publisher Laura Pennell stating “The interference we’re currently experiencing puts in question how we can operate.” Two other journalists threatened to resign over the crisis on Feb. 7. On the day Smith Cross and Pinkerton’s resignation became public, those two journalists, and a third who was on maternity leave, were laid off as part of a reportedly unrelated decision to divide TorStar assets. The terms of this deal were implemented on the same day of the resignations.

For her part, Pennell told the Toronto Star

The story in question did not meet the publication’s standards…. Editorial staff were provided an opportunity to edit and amend the story to have it meet the strong ethical and professional standards we require.

The exact details of these standards are left unstated in the piece, and are not publicly available on their website. The emails referenced, however, make references to “personal details” and the “broad focus,” two concepts that offer no clarity.

This vague gesturing to principles by the higher-ups at QP Briefing contrasts wildly with the resignations of these two workers. Grievances were pointedly aired about how the story was treated, and resignation was on the table, yet the story itself seems to have remained in gridlock by the publisher.

Through this tangled mess of details, we can come to these conclusions. This story was needlessly held up and delayed, two reporters have resigned, and the story was passed off to other agencies who seized the opportunity to report it.

However, this instance of corporate interference in political reporting is just an acute representation of the private sector’s priorities in reporting the news. Though the exact reasoning behind the editorial interference has not been revealed at this time, its overlap with the business dealings behind QP Briefing raise the question of how free our press truly is. A news media agency with the sole purpose of covering Ontario provincial politics interfered and held up a news story about developer ties to premier, the point where two prominent journalists publicly resigned.

It’s important to keep track of Ford’s dealings and developer ties, especially when we have a video of Ford saying he would open up the Greenbelt for development in 2018, but the genesis of the reporting is crucial as well. As The Catch has argued multiple times in the past, our news media is dominated by business and neoliberal interests. QP Briefing’s latest scandal is just an acute instance to explain this dynamic.

However, even in the ethical standards proposed by our news media as it stands in its capitalist form, this is a black spot on their priorities. This interference should be enough to kneecap any of QP Briefing’s credibility in reporting on Ford, or indeed any provincial politics, in the future.