Robyn Doolittle (born 13 September 1984) is a Canadian investigative reporter for ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

''. At the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', she gained notoriety for coverage of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Rob Ford Robert Bruce Ford (May 28, 1969 – March 22, 2016) was a Canadian politician and businessman who served as the 64th mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014. Before and after his term as mayor, Ford was a city councillor representing Ward 2 Etobi ...

's political and personal life, which led to her authoring the biography '' Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story'' (2014). At ''The Globe'', her focus has been on sexual assault cases deemed "unfounded" by police in Canada.

Early life and education

Doolittle was born in 1984 in

Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes where Lake Huron fl ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, and grew up in

Forest, Ontario Forest is a community in Lambton Shores, Ontario, Canada, near Sarnia and Lake Huron in Lambton County. It has a population of 2,876 (2011 Census) and a land area of . Community Forest's high school, North Lambton Secondary School. This fac ...

, where her mother worked in human resources and her father worked for

Eaton's The T. Eaton Company Limited, later known as Eaton's, was a Canadian department store chain that was once the largest in the country. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an immigrant from what is now Northern Ireland. Eaton's grew ...

building window displays. As a high school student, Doolittle was actively involved in numerous extracurricular activities and wrote a column for the ''

Sarnia Observer The ''Observer'' has been serving Sarnia-Lambton since 1853 and publishes five times per week, Tuesday through Saturday. The offices of the ''Observer'' are in Sarnia. The paper is printed in London, Ontario, on presses owned by Postmedia, which ...

''. Though she originally intended to study theatre, Doolittle has traced her desire to work in journalism from an experience at her high school

prom A promenade dance, commonly called a prom, is a dance party for high school students. It may be offered in semi-formal black tie or informal suit for boys, and evening gowns for girls. This event is typically held near the end of the school yea ...

where she felt that the police unfairly profiled her

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

boyfriend. Doolittle was accepted into

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

's journalism program in 2002, and from 2006 to 2007 she served as editor-in-chief of ''

The Eyeopener ''The Eyeopener'' is one of two weekly student newspapers at Toronto Metropolitan University. It has a circulation of 10,000 copies per week during the school year. ''The Eyeopener'' is published by Rye Eye Publishing Inc., owned by the studen ...

'', one of Ryerson's two weekly student newspapers. While editor-in-chief, she clashed with a professor who cut the newspaper's staff and ran a headline attacking the professor.

Journalism career

2010–2014: ''Toronto Star'' and coverage of Rob Ford

While a university student, Doolittle was hired as a summer intern at the ''Toronto Star''. After helping to cover the trial of

Conrad Black Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour (born 25 August 1944), is a Canadian-born British former newspaper publisher, businessman, and writer. His father was businessman George Montegu Black II, who had significant holdings in Canadi ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Doolittle was hired back as a full-year intern and then a staff reporter. Doolittle originally covered crime for the paper, but in 2010 was assigned to cover

Toronto City Council Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The current term began on November 15, 2022. Structure The cur ...

. In 2013, Doolittle wrote a story with fellow reporter Kevin Donovan alleging that Rob Ford had been asked to leave the Garrison Ball, a military gala, because he was heavily intoxicated. Ford strongly denied this allegation. In part because of her role in writing the Garrison Ball story, she was approached by Mohamed Farah and Mohamed Siad, alleged members of the Dixon Bloods, about a video they had showing Rob Ford smoking

crack cocaine Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be smoked. Crack offers a short, intense high to smokers. The ''Manual of Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment'' calls ...

. Doolittle was shown the video by Siad on a cell phone, but he refused to give it to the ''Star'' unless he was paid $100,000. After Siad also tried to sell the video to John Cook from

Gawker ''Gawker'' is an American blog founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers and based in New York City focusing on celebrities and the media industry. According to SimilarWeb, the site had over 23 million visits per month as of 2015. Founded in ...

, Gawker released a story about the video thus essentially forcing the ''Star'' to run their story shortly after. Ford denied smoking crack cocaine and the existence of the video, but he later admitted that he had smoked crack cocaine at least once after the existence of the video was confirmed by Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair. In April 2014, Doolittle left the ''Toronto Star'' to take a position as

investigative reporter Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years res ...

with ''The Globe and Mail'' (Toronto). In her blog, she acknowledged her time and experiences at the ''Star'', calling it "an amazing paper," and welcomed her opportunity to gain new experiences and learn from new associates at ''The Globe and Mail''.

''Crazy Town''

Based on the notability of the Rob Ford crack video and her personal role in investigating it, Doolittle was offered a book deal by

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year. Titled ''Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story'', the book was released in Canada and the United States in February 2014. The book immediately reached the top of Amazon Canada's bestseller list. In early February 2014, film producers

Daniel Iron Daniel Iron is a Canadian film and television producer. After his company Foundry Films was acquired by Blue Ice Group, he became president of production of that company. Recognition * 2008 Genie Award for Best Motion Picture - ''Away From Her' ...

and Lance Samuels announced they had purchased the movie rights to ''Crazy Town''. After the video was released by the Toronto Police Services, Doolittle acknowledged that she had recalled some details of the video incorrectly. On July 8, 2015, online retailer

Kobo Kobo may refer to: Places * Kobo (woreda), a district in Ethiopia ** Kobo, Ethiopia, a town * Kōbo Dam, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan * Mount Kōbō, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan People First name * Kōbō Abe (1924–1993), pseudonym of Japanese w ...

honoured Doolittle with its first annual non-fiction

Kobo Emerging Writer Prize The Kobo Emerging Writer Prize is a Canadian literary award, presented since 2015 by online e-book and audiobook retailer and eReader manufacturer Rakuten Kobo Rakuten Kobo Inc., or simply Kobo, is a Canadian company that sells ebooks, audioboo ...

for ''Crazy Town''. The prize came with a $10,000 cash award, and marketing assistance.

2014–present: ''The Globe and Mail''

At ''The Globe'', Doolittle led a 20-month investigation which determined that 1 in 5 sexual assault cases in Canada is closed by police as "unfounded". As they are not reported to

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, this artificially reduces the number of reports. In response to Doolittle's 2017 article, 37,272 cases were reviewed by various police departments, and over 400 were reopened including 23 cases in the

Canadian Armed Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

. In September 2018, the man who had raped the first victim that Doolittle interviewed for her investigation was sentenced to jail after having his case reopened. After police surveillance collected a sample of the man's DNA, they were able to match it with the victim's child, which had not been done before because the detective had accepted the man's claim that he was sterile at face value. The victim's lawyer, who is an expert on "unfounded" cases said that it was the first time he had seen such a case result in the criminal being brought to justice.

Personal life

Doolittle lives in a condo in the Parkdale area of Toronto. She has two Pomeranians.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Doolittle, Robyn 1984 births Living people People from Sarnia Toronto Metropolitan University alumni Toronto Star people Canadian women journalists Journalists from Toronto Canadian newspaper reporters and correspondents 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian investigative journalists The Globe and Mail people Canadian women biographers 21st-century Canadian biographers Canadian political journalists Canadian women non-fiction writers