Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s campaign team has made a strategic decision to avoid long form interviews, clearly calculating that the risks outweigh any benefits in a campaign where he’s leading. In this column I wrote for the Toronto Star, I argue that it might be a cynically effective strategy, but not so great for democracy. It’s from the point of view of a former journalist who covered 6 Ontario elections and several federal campaigns. Now that I’m a media trainer, I still advise clients (including politicians) to face even the toughest questions head on. Evasion makes you look evasive. Far better to think about the most challenging questions and prepare your most credible answers.
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