Mayor Rob Ford has been invited to participate in a public hearing to address complaints over a high-profile crack cocaine video story in the Star.

After receiving 41 public complaints, many of them anonymous, the Ontario Press Council announced Monday it will hold two hearings into stories published in May by the Star and the Globe and Mail.

In a letter dated last Friday, the council invited the mayor to lodge a complaint so that he can make submissions to the Star hearing.

Should he choose to participate, the hearing would provide a public forum for the mayor to comprehensively refute the claims made in the story, which describes a video appearing to show Ford smoking crack cocaine and making racist and homophobic remarks.

The second story, appearing in the Globe, alleged that Councillor Doug Ford dealt hashish in high school.

Doug Ford has also been invited to file a complaint to participate in that hearing, according to the press council’s letter.

The Fords have not addressed either allegation in detail.

At a press conference a week after the Star story ran, Mayor Ford said, “I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine.”

Days after the first crack video report was published, Ford told reporters “these allegations are ridiculous. This is another story with respect to the Toronto Star going after me.”

The hearings will not look into the truth of the allegations, only whether they were responsibly reported.

“We’re not here to determine truth. We’re here to determine if people in a news organization followed process and proper journalistic procedures and ethical concerns were considered,” said Ontario Press Council Executive Director Don McCurdy.

“That’s what we do.”

If the press council finds against either paper, they would be required to publish the decision in full.

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“The Star looks forward to the opportunity to respond publicly and transparently to these complaints,” said public editor Kathy English.

“The Star has reported responsibly in the public interest on the mayor of Toronto.”

Of the 41 complaints received, only six were in writing and included the names of the complainants, which are requirements to have a complaint considered.