The Rob Ford Conundrum

It's been an interesting few weeks in Toronto.  I don't think I need to go through it play-by-play and blow-by-blow.  But it's created a bizarre conundrum for those of us media types outside of Toronto: how much time should we devote to Rob Ford coverage?

It had the opportunity to anchor a few newscasts over the last week and I made the point of not including a Rob Ford story in a couple of newscasts, even joking on Facebook and Twitter that I did something "un-Canadian" by doing that.  By that point in the day (late afternoon), there was nothing "new" to the story as Ford hadn't spoken to the media since 8am.  My posts came with a mixed reaction.  Some loved the fact that a Calgary radio station went an entire six minutes without talking about Toronto's mayor.  Others hated it because they want to hear the latest, regardless of how small the story is.

Frankly, I can see both sides of this argument.  On one hand, if you don't live in Toronto, how does this really affect you?  You didn't vote for or against Ford.  He's not making any decisions directly impacting you.  And are we going to have put up with hearing the breath-by-breath from Ford until he either steps down or the next municipal election in Ontario?  It's no wonder some people are quite tired of hearing about this story and want to move on.

On the other hand, this is a story that EVERYONE is talking about.  It was on SNL last night.  It's the fodder on all the late-night talk shows.  Every news outlet is spending time on this story.  It is the water-cooler talk of the country, as this IS the mayor of Canada's largest city.  So it would be ill-advised to throw up your hands and avoid the story completely as it would appear that you're not in tune with what's going on in the world and what's being talked about.

I know I say this a lot, but I do believe there's a delicate balance that can be reached.  A city like Calgary or Edmonton probably doesn't need the play-by-play and in-depth coverage every hour on the hour.  But we are in the business of broadcasting news, information and stories that you are and will be talking about, so we will continue to talk about this saga as it continues to unfold...