A sidebar to the current scandal surrounding Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is the debate about the media’s role in covering the entire affair.

Both the Toronto Star and the U.S. gossip website Gawker published stories last month claiming their journalists have viewed a video of Ford smoking what appears to be crack cocaine.

The story set off a media frenzy, but it has been more than two weeks since it came to light.

With the alleged tape yet to surface, questions are turning to how news organizations have covered the story.

The Toronto mayor and his brother, Coun. Doug Ford, have admonished the coverage of the story while denying the tape exists. Last week, Doug Ford said the stories about his brother are proof journalism has sunk “to an all-time low.”

The coverage prompted Rob Ford to call the news media a “bunch of maggots,” a statement he later apologized for.

But have news organizations fallen short of their own ethical standards in covering this story?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2013/06/03/toronto-ford-journalism-the-current.html