How to handle Rob Ford: A cartoonist’s advice to the media

National Post cartoonist/advice columnist Steve Murray has tackled a series of questions from concerned reporters covering Toronto’s City Hall beat under mayor Rob Ford. His advice, as always, is practical and hilarious and accompanied by illustration.

To the journalist who received priority seating that is worried about his jealous competitors, Murray suggests: “You can surely snag some great Mayor Ford-themed swag, like buttons and hats and shot glasses! Give these out to your fellow, less-well-off members of the press and they’ll completely forget why they were ever upset with you in the first place!”

Another journalist asked Murray “The Mayor hates me, or the publication I work for — probably both. I don’t need him to like me, I just need him to tell me when things are happening…”

Murray’s first suggestion to getting on the mayoral newsletter list — can’t the media just share? His second suggestion: “Make a news outlet that he likes. Now, I’m not saying you turn your fine publication —let’s just call it “Starry Toronto” — into a Ford propaganda machine.”