Welcome to the second edition of Comrade Charlie’s Colorado Propaganda Report! (or CCCP Report for short)
Comrade Charlie, a former authoritarian propagandist, is going to point out some examples of propaganda attempts by Colorado’s “news” media organizations!
“Hello Free People of Colorado, my name is Comrade Charlie, and I’m going to debrief you on the pitiful propaganda of your major Colorado newspaper.
The Denver Pest, oops, I mean the Denver Post is the only major newspaper left in the Denver Metro Area.
As is the case with many other newspapers across the USA, this newspaper has faced declining subscriptions, increasing layoffs, and growing irrelevancy in recent years.
But a declining audience hasn’t stopped the Wannabe Tyrants at the Denver Post from attempting to spread their anti-freedom agenda across the state.
I will be looking at the Post’s endorsements, the editorial board, political donations from their employees, and some other details in order to understand the bias of the Post.
Let’s start with the 2020 election.
2020 Denver Post Editorial Board Endorsements
Elections are exciting times for newspapers.
The public, unaware of the details of ballot initiatives, or the beliefs of candidates, use endorsements by those they trust to help guide their vote.
I can only imagine that editorial boards, with their all-knowing attitude, salivate at the opportunity to educate the common people on the correct course for the future.
After all, these newspaper people are constantly engaged in political issues, and therefore have a deeper knowledge than the common people .
What is an editorial board?
In general, editorial boards are known as guiding the tone and direction of the news organization.
The New York Times calls their editorial board “an institutional voice.”
For some newspapers, editorial boards largely determine what is reported on, and how the stories are reported by the news organization.
When an editorial board makes endorsements, it is fair to say that who and what are endorsed are a reflection of the values of the news organization.
With that being said, let’s take a look at the recent 2020 endorsements of the Denver Post Editorial Board.
2020 Denver Post Ballot Initiative Endorsements in Their Own Words:
Amendment B: The Gallagher Amendment is unworkable, inflexible and ready for repeal. Vote yes.
Amendment C: Yes on C, to reboot charity bingo
Amendment 76: Amendment 76 is deceitful. Non-citizens already can’t vote, but it would keep 17-year-olds from the ballot.
Amendment 77: Yes, let voters in Cripple Creek, Black Hawk and Central City control bet limits
Proposition 113: Yes on Prop 113 to elect the U.S. president with the national popular vote
Proposition 114: Yes on gray wolves reintroduction
Proposition 115: Don’t put the government in OBGYN offices; vote “no” on the late-term abortion ban
Proposition 116: Endorsement: If you vote for Proposition 116, keep in mind the permanent budget cuts you’d like with it. No
Proposition 118: Vote no on Prop. 118 for family and medical leave because now is the worst time imaginable for a $1.3 billion payroll tax
Proposition EE: How can Colorado help prevent teens from getting addicted to nicotine? Voting yes on Prop EE is a good start.
Be sure to check out Free State Colorado’s Ballot Initiative Recap!
And how in line with liberty was the Post?
Of the ten initiatives, the Post was good on three of them (C, 77, and 118), and bad on six of them (B, 76, 113, 114, 116, and EE). (I didn’t count 115 as it is a complicated issue and divisive among libertarians).
To be honest, I was surprised to see 118 opposed by the Post.
However, I was not surprised to see the Post advocate for higher residential property taxes (B), more taxes on tobacco (EE), taxpayer-funded wolf population control (114), and against lowering taxes on our income (116).
2020 Denver Post Endorsements for Federal Office:
The US Senate race, was the biggest race in Colorado in 2020, and the Post endorsed Hickenlooper, an anti-gun, and anti-cannabis candidate.
For Congress, they endorsed Democrats exclusively.
For Denver District Attorney, they endorsed Beth McCann, the tyrant who viciously targeted Sweet Leaf Budtenders.
Now that we have seen the endorsements of the Post’s Editorial Board, let’s take a look at who is on the board.
Who is on the Denver Post’s Editorial Board?
Megan Schrader, Editor of the Editorial Pages.
Megan Schrader was previously a writer for the Colorado Springs Gazette, and in 2016 was hired by the Post.
Let’s take a look at some of Schrader’s Post material.
Here are some of Schrader’s recent opinion pieces:
Schrader calls Coloradoans who think there was fraud in the 2020 Election “Wackadoos.”
She complains in her editorial that Cory Gardner “hoodwinked” her into believing he was a moderate.
Of course, Liberty-minded Coloradoans see Gardner as more of a liberal than a moderate.
But Schrader starts her editorial against Gardner with an apology for her previous support of Gardner:
“At times in the past six years I have felt just so grateful to have a Republican in federal office who pushed a sanctions bill against Russia; a Republican who admits climate change is real; a Republican who wears a mask to slow the spread of COVID-19, and a Republican who doesn’t vilify the millions of immigrants who have come to America illegally.”
The problems with Gardner as Schrader lists in her editorial are: he “voted with the oil and gas industry,” he voted to repeal Obamacare, and “he refused to prevent Trump” from using money appropriated to the Department of Defense for a wall on the southern border.
Schrader admits that Gardner’s support for lower taxes (a most important vote for libertarians), and his pro-life votes are enough for some Republicans to support him, but in her mind Gardner is “a great pretender.”
I find it interesting to note that in 2014, many Republicans were saying Gardner “betrayed his conservative principles”.
Apparently, playing to the middle was a downfall for Gardner.
By Betraying his base, and attempting to placate the other side, Gardner did nothing but create enemies all around him.
Hickenlooper it seems, didn’t learned from Gardner’s mistakes, and is acting in the same regard.
Schrader’s editorials seem biased towards a left-leaning view of the world, in which government is a problem-solving group of experts.
Let’s continue our investigation into Schrader’s beliefs, by looking at at a selection of her tweets:
Well, it seems obvious that Schrader has little to no understanding as to why the American people might distrust the press.
Trump tapped into the public’s resentment of the media, but Schrader probably doesn’t understand why anyone would distrust the journalists who tell us what to think.
In this tweet, Schrader seems to suggest that she believes Gas companies should be taxed in order to stop the “waste of natural resources.”
Schrader seems to think that cheap natural gas is a detriment to society.
Schrader also doesn’t seem to be able to comprehend that Biden is nothing but another tyrant in the opinion of Denver’s “Far-left”.
Libertarians know that Biden is a war criminal, advocate of a police state, and career politician.
Schrader celebrates the fact that the the 2020 Presidential election was “free and fair,” and that the power of the press helped prove this point.
Of course, Schrader has no evidence as to why this might be the case.
Schrader shows her support for illegal immigration in the above tweet.
Now, I don’t have a problem with immigrants breaking the law to achieve a better life, but combined with Schrader’s other tweets, it seems clear her talking points come from a liberal worldview.
Here Schrader claims that those who criticize Government Indoctrination Centers are “conspiracy theorists.”
In this last series of tweets, Schrader blames Trump for the “decline of American cities,” unhoused individual’s “fear of the contracting the coronavirus in shelters,” unemployment among “America’s lowest-wage earners,” and the “protests and civil unrest,” experienced in the summer of 2020.
Schrader’s opinions are clearly aligned with the mainstream media and the Democratic party.
Furthermore, Schrader ended Jon Caldera’s editorials in the Post because Caldera was “too insensitive” by saying there are only two genders, and arguning against compulsive speech related to gender-based pronouns:
For a list of Schrader’s articles, click here.
To give Schrader some credit, it appears her resistance to taxpayer-funded Family Leave Welfare programs earned her some grief from the left-wing mob at Colorado Pols.
However, in May of 2020, Schrader’s authoritarian tendencies were on full display when she chastised those who were not obeying the Governor’s lockdown orders:
So, it’s unforgivable to advocate tacitly or expressly for others to engage in close personal contact with strangers. Doing so is essentially pulling for team COVID...Everyone should be helping to preach the importance of limiting social interactions to slow the spread of the virus. We don’t want to throw away all the good that was achieved by the lockdown.…
But I will endeavor to do the best I can to avoid contracting and spreading the coronavirus. And I will be critical of those encouraging recklessness at a time when we should all be combating our common enemy.
Source: https://www.denverpost.com/2020/05/12/coronavirus-colorado-castle-rock-spread-virus-megan-schrader/
After reviewing Schrader’s writings, it is clear she is a left-leaning statist who supports the narrative of State control over our lives.
Is Schrader and her beliefs an aberration at the Post?
Let’s take a look at another of the Post’s Editors to see if there is a pattern.
Lee Ann Colacioppo, Editor
Lee Ann Fleet (maiden name) Colacioppo seems to be a Denver native.
But it seems the frontier attitudes of rugged individualism and self-determination were lost on her.
In May of 2020, Colacioppo celebrated the Denver Post joining The Trust Project:
“The Denver Post has long been committed to serving as a trusted source for reliable news about our community. But through our work with The Trust Project, it is now easier for readers to find our policies, learn about our reporters’ deep and varied experiences, and contact us when you see an error,” Denver Post Editor Lee Ann Colacioppo said.
Source: https://www.denverpost.com/2020/05/29/denver-post-trust-project/
The Trust Project has come under criticism from independent journalists such as Whitney Webb:
The Trust Project was created as a way of outsourcing censorship of independent news sites while attempting to salvage the tattered reputation of mainstream media outlets and return the U.S. and international media landscape to years past when such outlets were able to dominate the narrative.
Source: https://www.mintpressnews.com/the-trust-project-big-media-and-silicon-valleys-weaponized-algorithms-silence-dissent/259030/
Colacioppo’s willingness to celebrate the Post joining the Trust Project should cause concern among independent-minded Coloradoans.
It must be assumed that Colacioppo genuinely believes in the status quo of modern American society.
Let’s test this hypothesis by looking at some of Colacippo’s tweets:
Colacioppo seems to agree with the other Editorial Board member’s endorsement of Hickenlooper.
This tweet from January 7th, 2020 seems to show Colacioppo’s belief in Trump’s culpability of the supposed “insurrection” on January 6th.
In my opinion, Colacioppo is just another gatekeeper for the media.
She believes in the mainstream corporate press view of American Society, and seems proud to support institutions that libertarians would see as the antithesis of a free society.
Let’s take a look at the other members of the Post’s Editorial Board
Justin Mock, CFO
Not much is found in an online search of Mock, but he seems to be an avid runner.
Bill Reynolds, VP of Circulation and Production
Reynolds seems to be a career newspaper employee, with little opinions expressed online.
The last two members of the editorial board, Bob Kinney, VP of IT, and TJ Hutchinson, Systems Editor don’t have opinions that are easily found online.
Well, now that we know who is currently pushing the agenda at the Post, let’s take a look at some of their past anti-freedom editorials.
The Denver Post has Published Anti-Cannabis Editorials
In 2012, when Colorado voted on Amendment 64, The Denver Post was against it.
To give them credit, the Post’s Editorial begins, “We believe possession and use of marijuana should be legal.”
However, their opposition to Amendment 64 was that for “a single state to legalize possession of small amounts of the drug as well as cultivation and retail facilities,” was the wrong approach for legalization.
History has shown that the Post was wrong.
If Colorado voters listened to the Post, we would have less freedom than we do now.
And just this past week, the Post has continued their opposition to the legal cannabis market:
The Denver Post wants to make Cannabis products illegal if they have higher than a 30% THC potency.
This idiotic assault on our freedom would of course incentivize Free Market Entrepreneurs to fill the gap in the legal availability of more potent THC.
And of course, a cap on potency would only lead to cannabis users having to smoke more cannabis to get the same high they are used to.
The Denver Post Supports Gun Control
As you may have suspected, the Denver Post supports “Gun Safety Legislation,” a useful euphemism for gun control.
And as you might expect, it’s all about SAVING THE CHILDREN!
Let’s take a broader look at the Post and it’s relationship with the Associated Press.
The Denver Post is a Gatekeeper for the Status Quo
Like most newspapers in 2021, the Denver Post publishes very little of it’s own content, primarily reprinting Associated Press (AP) stories.
The AP publishes stories that cater to the dominant authoritarian cultural worldview of the American establishment.
Just take a look at the headlines on their website.
Although the majority of news-reading Americans would see nothing wrong with the stories of the AP, libertarians looking at some of these stories might realize the AP is a mouthpiece for organizations like the United Nations.
The AP has of course pushed the Pandemic narrative, and now pro-“vaccine” stories are frequent.
For an example of the AP’s bias, check out this great 2019 article on Antiwar.com: Triumph of Conventional Wisdom: AP Expunges Iran/Contra Pardons from Barr’s Record
The late-great Justin Raimondo of Antiwar.com fame, back in 2017 also called out the AP for publishing anti-Trump Fake News: Our Lying Media
And in 2020, the AP was hammered when they released their updated Style Book to guide reporters on their coverage of the BLM protests/riots:
The New York Post summed up their criticism of the AP: “The AP should know better: The news biz is about recounting the world as it is, not as how journalists want it to be.”
Another great article from last year’s New York Post continues the criticism:
Source: https://nypost.com/2020/10/22/the-associated-press-progressive-bias-is-out-of-control/
The AP’s Orwellian “newspeak” isn’t new. For example, over the last decade, it forbade the use of “illegal immigrant” in favor of “undocumented,” a word that blurs the fact that some immigrants have entered the country illegally. It banished “Islamist” from the vocabulary of those covering the threat from radical Islam and said “terrorists” should be (misleadingly) referred to as “militants.”
You might be wondering, why have I spent so much time on the AP?
Well, if you feel like throwing your money away, buy a copy of the Post and see how many articles are merely reprints of AP stories.
Political Donations of Denver Post Employees
Publicly available information from the Federal Elections Commission, FEC, shows the following over the past election cycle:
From 2019 to 2020, there were 206 contributions, from 28 individuals, to political candidates or political groups where “Denver Post” was listed as the employer.
159 donations (77%) were to ActBlue, a fundraising organization associated with the Democratic Party.
23 individual donors (82%) were: Domanico, Hinds, Hobleman, Hutto, Johansson, Korosec, Lindgren, Little, Macdonald, Moynihan, Nierengarten, Oliver, Orand, Osayaren, O’Sullivan, Plewka, Saunders, Schafer, Schmidt, Schaffer, Skiff, Stillwill, Wills.
31 donations (15%) were to WinRed, a fundraising organization associated with the Republican Party.
4 individual donors (14%) were: Brooks, Gullickson, Latham, Stump
7 donations (3%) were to the Republican National Committee (RNC).
1 individual donor (also donated to WinRed): Gullickson
6 donations (3%) were to the Trump campaign.
1 individual donor (also donated to WinRed, and the RNC): Gullickson
1 was to Democrat Alice Madden for US Senate, and 1 was to Biden for President (1% combined). Respectively Mcphee, and Skiff (also donated to ActBlue).
These numbers speak for themselves.
To Conclude
The Denver Post has lost it’s status as an organization of importance in Colorado’s political discourse.
This is a good thing.
Throughout American history, legacy media organizations have been used to support the status quo.
Organizations like the Denver Post thrive on access to those in power.
To maintain access to the power brokers in society, legacy media organizations can’t be critical of those they need access to.
But the trap that is common among access-based organizations is that by relying on those they are supposed to be holding accountable, they become complicit or even supportive of the authoritarian policies of the power brokers.
By normalizing the behavior of the authoritarian political class, the media becomes a key factor in perpetuating the narrative used to keep individuals under the spell of modern culture.
The sooner legacy media organizations like the Denver Post fail, the sooner the authoritarian political class fails.
The Government relies on the media to help normalize their oppression.
And thankfully, millions of Americans have woken up to the fact that legacy media organizations have been lying to them.
In a Magellan Strategies Survey of Coloradoans from last month, 54% of respondents said they have “No Trust at All,” when asked, “How much trust do you have in the national media to report news and information in an unbiased and objective manner?”
As alternative media sources continue to proliferate online, this distrust is sure to grow.
That is, unless these media organizations make an effort to present diverse viewpoints.
Seemingly, the echo chambers that Denver Post Editors Schrader, and Colacioppo live within provide no understanding as to why the public would distrust their reporting.
For them, Trump’s attacks on the media created this distrust.
When in fact, Trump tapped into the distrust already present in society, and used it to further his political ambitions.
This distinction seems lost on those at the Denver Post.
And this is why they are failing.
Good riddance.
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