Rossi, Smitherman, and the political art of headline theft

• Posted on: March 05, 2010
• Submitted by: votetoronto2010 staff

Wednesday and Thursday were days of intense battle over newspaper real estate in the mayoral race. And both candidates George Smitherman and Rocco Rossi have proven masters at stealing one another’s thunder. 

With most of the City Hall Press Gallery confirmed to attend a major speech by Rossi on the city budget to the Board of Trade on Wednesday, George Smitherman decided to make some news of his own. As a result of making his own pre-emptive announcement, that morning “Smitherman embraces privatization” was the Star’s above-the-fold, full-breadth headline. 

(There was an element of tit-for-tat to this week’s headline-seeking. Close followers of the mayoral race will remember that Rossi himself first announced his intent to run for mayor on December 11, 2009 — thus stealing the barrels of ink Smitherman was expecting as a result of his own Board of Trade luncheon speech that day.) 

Rossi took the opportunity in his speech to call Smitherman a late convert to the idea of privatization. On Thursday privatization was the media-darling issue of the day, with no end of coverage on the idea. It was all quite a tempest of attention for two candidates who, in the end, largely agree in principle that outsourcing is a good idea. 

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