Globe boss John Stackhouse defends Doug Ford story, says sources are credible
Posted May 26, 2013 11:30:43 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s a story that has made headlines around the country, and now even the world.
John Stackhouse – the Editor-in-Chief of the Globe and Mail and the man behind the headline – spoke with 680News about their now infamous Doug Ford story on Sunday afternoon, defending his paper and their journalistic work.
Stackhouse’s comments to 680News come after a Globe investigation alleged that Ford was a high-level player in the Etobicoke hash trade in the 1980s.
Ford has strongly denied the allegations and even called the story disgusting, and Stackhouse says Ford’s comments only confuse the public.
“We stand by the story, it is based on thorough research and Mr. Ford is aware of the circumstances that we’re reporting on and he should speak in more detail to those,” Stackhouse said.
This runs contrary to what Ford said Saturday when he spoke to Kiss 92.5’s Maurie Sherman about the allegations.
“I would say this is nothing but gutter journalism. John Stackhouse, maybe I shouldn’t spend money on a lawyer, maybe I should spend it on a private investigator to look into your past,” Ford said.
Stackhouse has heard that comment and called it “unfortunate”, adding that he hopes it’s something that was said in the heat of the moment.
Some criticism has been raised based on the fact that the Globe chose to rely heavily on unnamed sources, but Stackhouse says they have done their research.
“We had senior editors go back to the sources to ensure that we would have full confidence in them, this is something that we would do only in exceptional circumstances, and this is one such case,” Stackhouse.
“(We) believe this is of extraordinary importance to the people of Toronto to know about, and we have to get that information to the people and explain that we have done extraordinary diligence to ensure the credibility of the sources.”
Stackhouse has been the Editor-in-Chief of the Globe and Mail since 2009.
Listen to the full interview below:
