Rocky, Post articles on open records legislation omitted Face the State's GOP-backed agenda

Summary: In January 21 reports on possible state House legislation related to the Colorado Open Records Act, the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post quoted Brad Jones, founder and managing editor of the "news" website Face the State. Although both newspapers referred to Jones' website, neither report disclosed his extensive ties to numerous Republican candidates, to conservative political interests, and to the free-market think tank the Independence Institute.

Reporting on a possible legislative proposal regarding the Colorado Open Records Act, the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post on January 21 quoted Brad Jones, the founder and managing editor of the "news" website Face the State, but failed to fully identify his ties to Republican and conservative political interests.

Both the News and the Post reported on legislation being considered by state Rep. Rosemary Marshall (D-Denver) that would, according to the News, "make it more difficult for the public to obtain certain documents from lawmakers." Both newspapers also noted that Jones had filed a lawsuit against Marshall over the release of a memo "that contains excerpts from a bill Marshall considered last year to allow state workers to form employee-bargaining partnerships," according to the Post. While the News and the Post referred to Face the State as "a Republican Web site" and "a conservative news website," respectively, neither publication reported Jones' extensive ties to Republican candidates and to the free-market think tank the Independence Institute, as Colorado Media Matters has documented.

Both articles followed a January 18 Face the State "Staff Report" about Marshall's challenge of a Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request made by Jones.

As the Post reported on January 21, "Rep. Rosemary Marshall, involved in a legal fight with a conservative news website over whether portions of a memo should be released to the public, is considering a bill to modify public-records law." The Post further reported:

Under current law, drafts of proposed bills are considered "work product" and are not public records. Marshall said Friday that she is considering a bill to "clarify" that the protection also extends to when portions of a proposed bill are included in a memo or shared with an outside party.

"We need to have the opportunity to dialogue with appropriate stakeholders about public-policy changes," Marshall, D-Denver, said.

The issue strikes close to Marshall because she is in litigation with operators of Facethestate.com over just such a circumstance. Brad Jones, the site's managing editor, is seeking the release of a memo that contains excerpts from a bill Marshall considered last year to allow state workers to form employee-bargaining partnerships.

Marshall had sent the memo to a lawyer in California, who forwarded it to Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, Jones said.

The bill wasn't introduced. Ritter subsequently signed a controversial executive order granting employees bargaining-partnership rights.

"This would help us find out what legislative leadership, as well as the governor's office, really wanted to do before they had to scale it back," Jones said.

Jones contends that the entire memo is a public document because Marshall shared it with someone outside the Capitol.

Similarly, as the News reported January 21 on its Live from the Colorado Legislature blog and January 22 in its print edition, "Rep. Rosemary Marshall, embroiled in a legal battle with a Republican Web site, is considering a bill that would make it more difficult for the public to obtain certain documents from lawmakers." The News further noted:

The proposed bill comes as Marshall faces a lawsuit over her refusal to release a memo from Gov. Bill Ritter requested by Facethestate.com under the Colorado Open Records Act.

Brad Jones of Facethestate.com is seeking a memo that contains excerpts of legislation Marshall drafted that would grant state employees collective bargaining rights.

However, although they applied the labels "conservative" and "Republican" to the website, neither the Post nor the News noted that Jones has worked for numerous Republican political campaigns and as a research associate at the Independence Institute under the direction of Jessica Peck Corry, a Republican candidate in the 2004 state Senate District 19 election. As Colorado Media Matters noted, Jones worked as research assistant for the Independence Institute's Campus Accountability Project headed by Corry, as evidenced by a brief biographical note at the end of an online article that the two co-wrote.

As a member of the College Republicans at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Jones participated with Corry in a controversial anti-affirmative action activist bake sale that charged different prices for baked goods depending on the customer's skin color. Jones also has appeared as a guest host on Independence Institute Director of Operations Amy Oliver's 1310 KFKA radio show on several occasions.

Furthermore, as Colorado Media Matters also noted, records from the Colorado Secretary of State show that in 2005 and 2006, Jones (as Brad Jones and Brad Jones, LLC) received at least $10,000 while working as a contractor for Republican candidates, including state Sen. Shawn Mitchell (Broomfield), Secretary of State Mike Coffman, Colorado State Board of Education member and 2008 U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer, and 2006 gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez.

Jones also at one time was listed as the "host[]" of ColoradoSenateNews.com, a website run by the state Senate Minority Office. As the online daily political news site Colorado Confidential reported on April 24, 2007, Colorado Secretary of State campaign finance reports confirmed that a GOP campaign account known as the "Senate Majority Fund paid $2,500 to Brad Jones LLC on January 12, and another $281 on February 14. Both expenditures were designated for 'consulting' and, as [Colorado Senate Minority Leader Andy] McElhany [R-Colorado Springs] has indicated, were used to create ColoradoSenateNews.com." The News reported in an April 11, 2007, article (accessed through the Nexis database) that McElhany had removed " 'Hosted by Brad Jones LLC' from the bottom of coloradosenatenews.com, because 'He's doing some blatantly partisan things.' "

—C.H.