Toronto's Now newspaper removed from city locations after poking fun at Mayor Rob Ford

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      More bureaucrats have sprung into action after an alternative newsweekly poked fun at a powerful politician.

      Toronto-based NOW revealed that city staff have "received a directive telling them to 'remove and dispose' all copies" of the paper from all city premises.

      The order came from the mayor's office.

      This comes after the weekly publication put a photo-shopped image of a nearly nude Mayor Rob Ford on the inside. The cover had him in boxers.

      The story's headline was "The naked truth about Rob Ford".

      "We are outraged," editor and CEO Alice Klein declared. "Rob Ford does not want Torontonians to know the naked truth."

      Last year, the Washington state ferry operator ordered the removal of the Seattle Weekly following publication of a cover of Senator Patty Murray dressed in pork.

      The ferries spokesperson later offered "regrets" for doing this.

      Meanwhile, B.C. Ferries has never allowed distribution of alt-weeklies, including the Georgia Straight, on its vessels.

      That negated any need to remove copies of the Straight for its caricatures of former premier Gordon Campbell, including a 2003 image depicting him wearing a dildo.

      This cartoon was published after B.C. Liberal government tried to impose a $250,000 annual tax on the Straight in connection with publication of free listings promoting charitable, arts, music, health, and other events.

      Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.

      Comments

      13 Comments

      RonS

      Apr 1, 2011 at 7:25am

      Right wing oligarch outraged? Well the electorate should be outraged with their antics after getting elected. The right wing have time and again proved they are just not competent or capable enough to run a outdoor toilet.

      seth

      Apr 1, 2011 at 10:30am

      I note there is a similar sort of suppression of ideas here at the Georgia Strait where a lot of my comments that don't agree with Charlie Smith's or Matt Burrow's editorial stance don't get past the Georgia Straight's censor bureau.

      Really this article is the pot calling the kettle black.
      seth

      Never mind the papers

      Apr 1, 2011 at 10:48am

      it is a new day so you better not get caught with your pants down or it will be all over the web. There is nothing like making something X-rated to boost up sales.

      Mark Fornataro

      Apr 1, 2011 at 11:27am

      What happened to freedom of expression and our constitution? I hope the Now newspaper launches a charter challenge, if they can afford it.

      Charlie Smith

      Apr 1, 2011 at 11:36am

      Seth,

      The only time your comments are deleted are when you defame people.

      If you drop the word "fascist" from your comments, they will be far more likely to get through the vetting process. On occasion, we've had to delete comments you've made about David Suzuki because they crossed a legal threshold, in our opinion.

      Otherwise, I welcome your comments and criticisms. I have learned a lot from many of your observations.

      Charlie Smith
      Editor

      seth

      Apr 1, 2011 at 1:55pm

      "“The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group,” Franklin Delano Roosevelt

      There is nothing libelous about the term fascist any more than the conservative description of progressives as socialist or stalinist's. In fact, just as many progressives are not all that irritated that conservatives might refer to them as socialist or stalinist's, most conservatives would agree that the greatest of US President's definition of Fascist fits their philosophy perfectly.

      With the Straight being that much more sensitive to potential libel than any other publication I frequent, perhaps it should adopt TheTyee's more progressive stance and simply remove the offending phrase. It would be much easier to understand where one's comment went south.

      Thanks for the comment, I enjoy contributing.

      seth

      Evil Eye

      Apr 1, 2011 at 3:10pm

      I see, Mr. Ford believes in censorship, as all dictators do. Lovely to see Canada's largest city in such capable hands.

      Banana Republic - 1
      Democracy - 0

      Bruno15

      Apr 1, 2011 at 3:22pm

      I thought Chris Farley was dead?

      Birdy

      Apr 1, 2011 at 5:30pm

      re: Mark "What happened to freedom of expression and our constitution?"
      The new freedom to not be offended overrides it. Similar to how our new freedom to be safe overrides our old freedom to not be molested at the airport.

      re: Seth
      I love how Roosevelt redefines "liberty" in that definition of fascism. He says liberty is lost when individuals or groups of individuals have more power than the government. So, essentially he is saying "freedom is slavery", or "if you want to be free, you have to do what we say"

      Fascist, socialist, it doesn't matter, every argument from the right, left or "center" amounts to a desperate defense of statism. Democracy is a choice between fascism and socialism. You get to pick your master, and what flavor of slavery you'll be forced into. You cannot vote to be free, you can only vote to redefine the word "free" and force that definition on the minority.

      greggron

      Apr 2, 2011 at 11:00pm

      This is rich coming from the notorious far-left censors at the Georgia Straight.