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Gawker vs the Toronto Star

U.S. website Gawker was first to publish this image of Mayor Rob Ford with three men. Screenshot / Gawker

TORONTO — Since Toronto Police confirmed it has a video of Toronto’s mayor smoking what appears to be crack cocaine, one of the publications that kicked off the controversy has been loudly trumpeting its journalism.

In a piece published Friday, Toronto Star publisher John Cruickshank argued the revelation is a testament to the Star‘s “extraordinary reporting.”

READ MORE: Mayor Rob Ford admits to smoking crack cocaine

He also provided similar comments to Global News.

Cruickshank’s comments resulted in a Twitter tirade by Gawker’s editor John Cook, who initially broke the story of the crack video last spring.

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Cook argued it was Gawker, and not the Star, that sparked the police investigation:

So, who is right?

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Well, technically, both publications. On page 9 of the Information to Obtain document, police credit both sources:

Both Gawker and the Toronto Star are referenced in the ITO provided by Toronto Police.

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