DISQUS

CCJNew · 1 year ago

Hooray! This is good news. It's hard for me to see how Sen. Groff and Speaker Romanoff are going to be able to ignore this expression of concern by the profession's most respected organization.

Truthteller · 1 year ago

Perhaps there are a number of Colorado "journalists" and the like who should think about this and reconsider their somewhat slavish devotion to the democrat party in the state.

CCJNew · 1 year ago

Amazing So now, "truthteller," you think that standing up for the freedom of the press makes you a "biased" journalist and a Democrat sympathizer?

Methinks you are being a bit paranoid. The CCPA thing is a bad idea, no matter where you stand politically. For five journalists on the Capitol beat to decide who is and who is not a journalist, and to do it on the basis of their perceptions about what journalistic ethics demand, is arrogant, short-sighted and inconsistent with the ideals of the profession and the country's commitment to the First Amendment.

Zappatero · 1 year ago

"truthteller" pfffft, don't let the name fool ya.

Truthteller · 1 year ago

Nice attempt at spin, but it won't work.

Who is it that is at the head of the Colorado legislature and are at the center of this plan?  Democrats.  Everybody knows this - so it is DEMOCRATS who can either support freedom of the press for bloggers, even pretty clearly slanted bloggers or not.  So far, Romanoff et al aren't standing up for those "journalists" who ALWAYS support them.  Why is that, I wonder? 

So why don't you try answering the argument that is offered, instead of twisting and spinning and gleefully knocking down the strawmen you set up, eh?

Truthteller · 1 year ago

Oh, yeah, Zappy and you are SO well known for telling the truth..........not.

Spare us the personal insults for once, and actually look at the truth when it's staring you in the face how about?

CCJNew · 1 year ago

So . . . now your argument is that, even though Romanoff and Groff signed off on the CCPA guild scheme, they really are against it?

So far, I see no evidence that Groff and Romanoff (Democrats both, by the way) have pulled back from their delegation of the power to control access to the floors to Ashby, Hanel et al. I see no evidence that there is currently any plan in the works for them to do so.

What I do see is that many journalists who think this whole protectionist game, aimed at propping up the profits of old-line newspapers and blunting competition in the capitol coverage arena, see it for what it is.

This has nothing to do with politics. It has everything to do with the oldest motivation in economics: if you can't beat them in the market, keep them out of the market.

Of course, it doesn't hurt the CCPA cartel masters that most of the "founding five" are plainly sympathetic to the GOP in the way they write and what they choose to cover.

Truthteller · 1 year ago

Geez do you actually READ what I WROTE?

That is NOT my argument.  That is almost exactly the REVERSE of my argument.

Let me see if I can spell this out for you - since DEMOCRATS are in control of this, and since this is SO BAD for the blogs like Colorado Confidential, whose members HAVE UNSWERVINGLY SUPPORTED DEMOCRATS 100%, maybe it is time for those bloggers to RECONSIDER how they have been and are supporting those DEMOCRAT POLITICIANS that they previously thought were their friends.  Maybe they should figure out that democrats are NOT their friends, after all.  Maybe they should think about how the DEMOCRAT POLITICAL LEADERSHIP HAS STABBED THEM IN THE BACK.

I can't see how I can be any clearer than that.

And it has a LOT to do with politics, by the way.

Cara DeGette · 1 year ago

Thank you, CCJNew For your intelligent contributions to the discussion.

I don't think that other person who keeps weighing in with harsh rhetoric in response to your points really understands what is going on. Don't let him/her get under your skin.

Wendy Norris · 1 year ago

truth be told, Truthteller Colorado Confidential does NOT unswervingly support any party.

We are precluded by federal nonprofit tax law from engaging in partisan activities. We take those prohibitions seriously.

Take a gander through any number of stories posted here on lobbying, campaign finance and a host of other important issues and you will see a demonstrated commitment to investigate and report wrongdoing on the part of politicians of all political stripes. We also take care to point out when electeds are doing their jobs well too.

Likewise, we've featured prominent Republicans as story sources and in live Q&As;, posted guest editorials from the Libertarian Party, and compiled bi-partisan score cards on legislative effectiveness, etc.

Your supposition doesn't match the facts.

CCJNew · 1 year ago

More Wiggling "Truthteller," you seem to be saying that the whole CCPA idea was Romanoff's and Groff's and that the five noble journalists who created this monstrosity were just doing what the all-powerful Democrats in charge wanted them to do.

Forgive me if I don't buy this fantasy.

CCPA is set up to preserve privileged access to legislators on the floor for a precious few journalists and their employers. It is, as I have written before, a cartel.

The professed motivation is to keep out people who aren't really journalists. But, of course, there is no principled way to defend a stance that says Colorado Confidential's reporters and editors aren't journalists. That organization has won numerous awards for its coverage, has skilled and experienced journalists (yes, that's what they are) working for it, and actually finds and reports news!

Nor do the rules for gaining a credential do much to allay fears that CCPA is really just an attempt to protect the traditional daily newspapers, together with the TV and existing radio interests covering the Capitol, from competition. Some of those rules are just silly, such as the one that vaguely refers to "conflicting employment." What the hell is that? What if the journalist is a freelancer but works to put food on her table at an company with major interests at stake in the legislature?

Then there's the attempt to distinguish "journalism" from "political activism." As anyone remotely familiar with  history knows, journalism in the United States has often, and is today, bound up with political advocacy and loyalties. Ask a political conservative whether the New York Times is unbiased. I think you know what answer you'd get. Ask a political liberal whether they think Fox news is unbiased. Same result.

Even the employers of the five organizers have a political agenda. The Pueblo Chieftain tends, editorially, to back the GOP. And Ashby's writing definitely indicates at least some sympathy for the Republicans. Hanel's paper, the Durango Herald, has been a fairly consistent Republican-oriented paper for some time. And obviously the Rocky and the Post make their sympathies known daily.

The best thing that could happen is for this whole charade to be dropped. Space is a problem on the floors, yes, but the way to handle that is to have a lottery for table seats, with no journalist or journalist's employer able to effect which of their competition gets in to the chambers.

And you can't get around the fact that the CCPA has enlisted state support in what amounts to a restraint of trade and an infringement of a journalist's ability to report the news. That means, with respect to the latter point, that you have a potential constitutional problem here since state action in the form of the Speaker's and Senate president's involvement is part of the cartel's operation.

And to attack the SPJ as being somehow naive or politically motivated is just dumb. I'm pretty sure there is a diversity of political views among the members of the Colorado SPJ chapter. And the letter they wrote to Groff and Romanoff is not only devoid even of a hint of political motivation for SPJ's stance, it makes a pretty compelling argument as to why the CCPA approach is wrong-headed.

Truthteller · 1 year ago

Featuring "prominent Republicans" like Ankeney is on your front page right now?  Real even-handed and non-partisan, that.  Uh huh.  And how many stories about DEMOCRAT child molesters have you made front page news, eh? 

Tell us another about how you don't take a partisan side.  That is nothing more than a blatant attempt at fomenting guilt by association ("Look how Republicans are Child Molesters!!!!") and pure emotional appeal.  And then look at your blog list - not one right or Republican-oriented blog, but you sure got all the lefties, radical and otherwise, represented. 

And where was your effort to "investigate and report wrongdoing" when Michael Merrifield was engaged in namecalling and slander as chair of the education committee?  (Remember, "special place in hell?")  You were all over Dougie Bruce for his bad behavior - why is it that Merrifield gets a pass?  And how is it that you're not bothering to "investigate and report" how democrat activist Aaron Fink is abusing the court system for purely partisan reasons?  Or how the democrat Governor is in secretly in bed with certain labor unions?  Doesn't look like you have much of a "commitment" to "investigate and report wrongdoing" when it's on the democrat side of the aisle, frankly.

There's no "supposition" involved - all it takes is a look at the evidence.

Truthteller · 1 year ago

What I'm saying is that the democrats are in charge, and they have the ability to either change this policy or perpetuate it.  And what I'm saying is that if it were REPUBLICANS doing it, that party's leadership wouldn't be getting the pass that the DEMOCRATS are getting.

What you're saying that I'm allegedly saying is only in your own mind.  Why is that?

You're right about one thing - there are much fairer ways to handle this kind of thing, by lottery, or some other method.

So why isn't the DEMOCRAT leadership of the Colorado legislature leading the way to some fairer method?  Forgive me if I don't buy the fantasy that they don't have any responsibility for this situation.

Truthteller · 1 year ago

Bothered at how accurate my comments are, eh, Ms. DeGette?  No wonder you and your buddy keep trying to twist them into something I don't actually say. 

And I understand perfectly what's going on - what's happening isn't fair.  Yep, got that.  But why are you giving the democrat leadership of the legislature a pass on that?  If anything should "get under your skin," it should be the total and abject failure of the democrat leadership to step up to the plate and do what is right and fair in this situation.  You and CCJNew can try to shift ground and dodge that issue all you want, but just because you want to ignore it doesn't change it one bit.

CCJNew · 1 year ago

An Agreement It is not possible to disagree that the leadership of both houses of the General Assembly should put an end to the CCPA fiasco. So on that point, "truthteller," I agree with you. I hope they dump it, and the sooner, the better.

What I am trying to make clear is that the Democratic leadership at the Capitol did not create the policy. They unwisely followed along with the monster offered up by the "founding five" of the CCPA.