Rocky published op-ed from affirmative action foe without identifying her position with Independence Institute

Summary: In a Rocky Mountain News "Speakout" column promoting an anti-affirmative action ballot initiative, Jessica Peck Corry, a policy analyst and political strategist with the "free-market" think tank the Independence Institute, was identified only as "executive director of the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative."

In a April 30 Rocky Mountain News "Speakout" column, Jessica Peck Corry criticized opponents of the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative (CoCRI), an anti-affirmative action ballot measure, saying that "radical opponents" of the initiative are preventing "an honest debate over affirmative action" in the state. As it has done in the past regarding Corry's support for the measure -- also known as Amendment 46 -- the News failed to identify Corry as a policy analyst and political strategist with the "free-market" think tank the Independence Institute, referring to her only as "executive director of the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative."

Corry, who is director of the Independence Institute's Campus Accountability Project, supported a controversial anti-affirmative action bake sale held by College Republicans in 2004 at the University of Colorado in Boulder that charged different prices for baked goods depending on the customer's skin color, as Colorado Media Matters has noted.

The April 30 "Speakout" column was the third instance in which the News, in a news article or opinion piece, mentioned Corry in connection with Amendment 46 without noting her position with the Independence Institute and her history of public campaigning against affirmative action.

In her column, Corry also failed to substantiate her claim that "[a]s the multipronged attack continues against COCRI, only our opposition's allegations are reported." As Colorado Media Matters noted, News editorial page editor Vincent Carroll wrote a March 4 column supportive of CoCRI, calling it "the real anti-preferences measure" in contrast to a competing ballot initiative launched by opponents of CoCRI. Carroll also described CoCRI, in a September 19, 2007, editorial (accessed through the Nexis database), as "straightforward, simple and easy to understand," with "[n]o hidden agendas or confusing language. Just a stark ban on government discrimination based on race, sex or the other familiar categories."

Furthermore, an April 2 News article regarding complaints that supporters of the anti-affirmative action ballot measure fraudulently gathered petition signatures quoted Corry accusing opponents of Amendment 46 of "engaging in 'tired' tactics to quash the measure," and further reported she "said the initiative's supporters 'followed the law exactly.' "

From the April 30 Rocky Mountain News "Speakout" column, "Civil rights initiative under constant fire," by Jessica Peck Corry:

The time has come for Colorado to have an honest debate over affirmative action. Unfortunately, for voters across the state, radical opponents to the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative are doing everything they can to prevent this from happening.

In recent weeks and months, the Denver media has been covering false accusations made against our campaign. Here are the facts.

First, COCRI is a proposed statewide constitutional amendment that seeks to ban race and gender discrimination and preferential treatment in public hiring, contracting and education.

The amendment would ban the current government practice that grants preferential treatment to one racial or gender group over another.

The amendment would not -- as our opponents want you to believe -- ban valid race-neutral or gender-neutral outreach programs targeting economically disadvantaged individuals. Programs that currently target applicants specifically on race or gender could still exist -- and could thrive -- but would be required to be open to all if taxpayer funds are involved.

[...]

Few, if any, of these facts have been reported in the mainstream media. As the multipronged attack continues against COCRI, only our opposition's allegations are reported. Recently, a group called Vote No on 46 filed a lawsuit alleging that Secretary of State Mike Coffman made a mistake when he ruled that we had enough valid signatures to appear on this November's ballot.

While the allegations may be tantalizing, such accusations should be subject to serious skepticism, having been merely recycled from other failed opposition campaigns.

At the outset of this campaign, we knew our opposition would be tenacious. While we accept that we are attempting to tackle a controversial problem, only our side has remained steadfastly committed to running an honest campaign. We can only hope that the media will now allow voters to hear both sides.

Jessica Peck Corry serves as the executive director of the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative. [italics in original]

—C.H.