By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Complete Colorado
Republicans in Colorado have, at best, a ”fraught” relationship with liberal local news media. Given this history, it’s probably not surprising that when Republicans refuse to talk to the progressive press, they enthusiastically spill ink over it.
To wit, journalism professor Corey Hutchins, in a recent edition of his media newsletter, noted how Republican gubernatorial candidate Victor Marx denied some media outlets access on the night of the GOP primary, saying that his campaign chose not to rely on legacy media to tell its story.
Think what you will about the maturity of Republicans or the news media, their squabbles hide something more important, especially given Colorado is run almost entirely by Democrats. Many Democrat politicians in this state boycott conservative media, albeit not as openly.
This might at first seem to be simple tit for tat, a mirror image, but it’s different in one big, important respect: Democrats’ radio silence leaves a whole lot more questions unanswered than does the GOP’s, meaning whole swaths of the state are without any chance to press those who actually pull the levers of power in Colorado.
Phil Weiser’s favorites
Examples are not hard to find. Marx’s opponent in the governor’s race, Phil Weiser, gives us plenty. In his role as attorney general, Weiser has built a cottage industry (and then campaigned on the same) suing President Trump, with the lawsuits piling up fast and furious. You might look at AG Weiser’s online lawsuit tracker and figure you’re getting the whole story, but you’re not. There’s plenty that he refuses to share.
Most outlets simply transcribe what the tracker shows, but a recent Center Square article (a follow up from an earlier piece in June) tried to dig into the details. If you read either piece, what you’ll note is the lack of any answers to the reporter’s questions. This isn’t due to a lack of trying, as the article ends up being a catalog of how far AG Weiser and his office go to not answer questions.
According to the reporter, the AG’s office is holding back some lawsuits from their tracker, and refuses to answer how many lawsuits are being handled by outside counsel. They also refuse to answer questions about how much taxpayer money is being spent on these suits. Not content with that, when the reporter tried to get results via an open records request, Weiser fought them at every turn, delaying the requests, and then jacking the price up significantly with no explanation.
Contrast all this with what happens if you’re a progressive news organization asking about things the AG’s office wants to publicize (such as the Colorado Sun and their partners at Gigafact asking about red flag laws). Weiser’s office responds faster than you could get Dominos delivered to your house.
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