Anyone home? (en francais)

Between the federal Liberals and their provincial cousins in Ontario, I'm surprised there's anyone left to report the news these days.

A camera-ready candidate
Ben Chin may be media-savvy, but he faces a tough fight to become an MPP

PAUL CARLUCCI

Special to The Globe and Mail

The 42-year-old Mr. Chin found his calling in broadcast journalism in 1989 after submitting a demo tape to CITY-TV. The next 14 years included a stint with CBC Newsworld and ended with a short-lived position at what was then Toronto 1 (now SunTV). As the latter station was tanking, he accepted a new position at Global, but before he even made it to air, he attended a media lunch with party brass from the Premier's office and was offered a senior communications advisory position.

Within a few months of his taking the job, party officials approached him to run.

His move into politics makes him the latest in a long line of journalistic recruits to the Liberal party: Ex-CBC journalist-turned-communications adviser Matt Maychak helped Dalton McGuinty come to power in 2003, and others now working for the party come from Global TV, the National Post, CFRB, CFTO and the Toronto Sun.