Friday, October 8, 2010

GOOD CHOICES HIDDEN FROM VOTERS

BIG MEDIA AT FAULT FOR FRUSTRATING MAYORAL RACE
... and Poor Understanding of Local Ward Races

Eyeweekly.com just did a really interesting story on how the media has overlooked some good contenders for the Mayoral race, and shows how the media played kingmakers in raising fringe candidate Sarah Thomson's star: http://www.eyeweekly.com/city/mayoralrace2010/article/103423

Mayoral candidate HIMY SYED definitely deserves real consideration, not only for his intelligence and awareness of all things Toronto or for his prolific and insightful comments via social media like Twitter ( http://twitter.com/#!/HiMYSYeD ) , but also because he has a real, detailed platform and not just platitudes or attacks on other candidates. He is a serious candidate for what Toronto needs in my view and deserves a seat at the big folks table.

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With regard to local ward races, I am increasingly frustrated with how the media - even some of the more local community news outlets who should know better - ignore the full field of candidates or the issues raised, and desperately try to boil down complex situations and multiple choices to an arbitrary two person matchup. I speak not just of my own ward 18 - where Now Magazine tries to tell us that only Ana Bailao (Liberal) and Kevin Beaulieu (NDP) matter http://www.nowtoronto.com/guides/voteto/2010/story.cfm?content=176760 , but also of most of Toronto's 44 wards that I am trying to follow.

*Update: Here's an agreeing blogger http://oct25.ca/aobtd Another One Bites The Dust says 5 of 8 big time candidates chosen for us by the media have gone from the races.