Polis' thumb on the scales for wolf importation (again)?, how much will the DPS board restrict Innovation Schools, and watch what you eat when it comes to media!
Polis (again) putting his thumb on the scale for wolf reintroduction?
The Coloradoan article (linked first below) details the allegation that Polis once again is putting his thumb on the scale for wolf reintroduction.
I say again, because as you can see in the Fence Post article linked second, you'll see he's stepped in on the process in the past, trying to hurry things along.
This newer allegation is that he's leaning on the commission members to make sure that his personal views (and/or likely those of his husband and noted animal activist Marlon Reis) are getting in the mix.
I'll leave it to you to read up on the allegations, the other members of the commission who say no such thing is happening, and Polis' own statement on the matter in the Coloradoan and come to your own conclusions.
Having done so myself, I find the accusation credible and I'll tell you why:
1. He's stepped in on the process in the past.
2. I have heard from more than one person in the Assembly (and hints in the press) that Polis is a micromanager and stage manager when it comes to crafting bills. Why would he not here too?
3. Look at Polis' statement when questioned on this in the screenshot. What do you NOT see there? Exactly.
This is part and parcel, in my opinion, of how Polis works. He doesn't ever publicly get his hands in things and thus appears to his friends in the liberal press as "Libertarian".
Far from it, he's just smart enough to exert his pressure and influence far from the light of day.
https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2023/02/07/colorado-wolves-some-say-polis-is-putting-pressure-on-to-change-colorado-wolf-reintroduction-plan/69866722007/
https://www.thefencepost.com/news/release-the-wolves-polis-tells-commission-to-hurry-and-get-wolves-on-the-ground/
***Related: Mrs. Gabel’s thoughts on public comment for wolf reintroduction. Worth a read.
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/opinion/the-wild-world-of-wolf-management-public-comment-gabel/article_5e1f61ee-a9ad-11ed-835b-ff8a7e2c39eb.html
An update on Denver Public Schools efforts to tamp down on school choice ...
I've posted in the past about Denver Public Schools vote to take away some of the autonomy from their Innovation Schools (a sort of halfway charter school model where it's technically a public school but it has a lot of freedoms that charters do).
The article below is an update on that. After some pushback the Innovation Schools got some of their lost autonomy back, but it remains to see whether or not the board's choice has effectively turned "innovation" into "more of the same".
More details and context in the article below.
https://boardhawk.org/2023/02/denvers-innovation-schools-await-their-fate/
As a media consumer, you need to watch what you're being fed.
I have been watching for and gathering a list of things lately that I thought would be worth sharing with you because knowing them helps you (and me) be more aware, thoughtful, and skeptical consumers of news.
Let's start with a recent series on the Red Flag law by CPR's Andy Kenney. I linked to his reporter page first below so you could see the the entirety of his series of articles on the topic.
There are multiple things to point out, but to keep this post short and stick with the topic of media (not guns and not the intersection of public health and guns), what I want to point out is the use of experts in articles.
One common thread through Mr. Kenney's series (and in other media outlets frankly) is the idea that ERPO's (Extreme Risk Protection Orders, or red-flag petitions) are not being sought for by police uniformly and that this makes us less safe. "Coincidentally" this has also been a refrain of a fair number of politicians.
Another frequent feature of this series has been quotes by public health experts on the use of ERPOs. Here is where you need to be careful. Here is where you would be wise to check up on the expert. Look at their social media. Look at their work.
For example, in tracking down one of the papers cited by Mr. Kenney in one of his articles (see the second link) I came across what you see in screenshot 1. If you read the series that language ought to look similar. It is the same narrative reinforced repeatedly in these articles. In other words, consciously or not, Mr. Kenney has included experts that dovetail exactly with the contention he has been pushing.
We all like to talk with and read things that agree with what we believe. It's natural. It's the confirmation bias I have written about in the past. One way that it will manifest in news stories is how experts are chosen. Experts will be chosen to reinforce what the reporter agrees with. It will be a rare case to see an expert that does not agree.
That's important to remember because as you read, you need to remind yourself that the relentless drumbeat you hear is not the only valid opinion on the matter. Do your due diligence and search out opinions that are counter to those presented. Do not assume that one expert speaks for the whole field. There is almost always someone who disagrees.
The second thing I wanted to bring to your attention is a neat "coincidence" I noticed in a set of stories lately. I put that coincidence in quotes because, try as I might, my cynicism will not let me NOT put it in quotes.
I read a lot of news. I see a lot of articles. As it does with physics, my mind finds patterns in what I read. It's kind of like the memory card game. You flip over that card with the parrot and something pings in your brain and you remember exactly where you saw the other one.
That happened recently with the trio of articles I posted third, fourth, and fifth below. Two are about a bill before the Assembly that would forgive student debt for adjunct college instructors, featuring instructors who just happen to work at Metro State University. The third is about full time college professors, who it just so happens ALSO work at MSU, who were expecting to get their workload lightened only to find out it wasn't.
My mind pinged that they're all on similar topics and had instructors from the same school. Some quick internet research led to me to a page for either a union or a professional organization of teachers at Metro State University (see sixth link below).
The part that stood out from the site was the pages I took a screenshots of (see screenshot 2 and screenshot 3).
Why lo and behold it's the group touting the very media coverage I was just seeing! In one particular case (screenshot 3) it even has the young lady profiled by the Colorado Sun.
This was way too much to be pure coincidence I thought, so I reached out to the union to ask if they had been calling around to get media coverage of the things they were pushing. I reached out to the three reporters at the Sun, Colorado Politics, and CPR to ask how they got wind of the story they were writing about.
As of this writing I've heard from two of the 4.
Ms. Metzger from Colorado Politics emailed back:
"Hi Cory, Thanks for reaching out! I'm assuming you're talking about Andrea Troncoso [the adjunct instructor profiled in the Colorado Politics article who supports the bill in the article]. If so, she submitted written testimony to the committee in support of the bill."
Mr. Zialcita from CPR wrote back:
"The story came from an anonymous tip."
Do you want to know what I think? What I think, my speculation based on living on this world a long time, is that the union or professional organization or whatever it is at MSU put in the anonymous tip to Mr. Zialcita.
I think the union MAY have tipped off Ms. Metzger and she used someone who testified publicly. I say may here because once a long time ago someone asked to print my public email comment and there was no prior contact there.
I think also that the union had a heavy hand in the Colorado Sun story. It cannot be pure chance that the very woman on the union flyer is the one who just happened to get a loving profile in the Sun.
The point for you the reader: remember that in news coverage there is a significant amount of behind the scenes work going on and often news coverage is manipulated by skilled PR people. Don't be a conspiracy theorist, but don't believe that things happen by accident in media either.
I say this without regard to political lean either. There are campaigns going on all the time on both sides of the aisle.
Watch what you're getting fed.
https://www.cpr.org/author/andy-kenney/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009174352200353X?via%3Dihub
https://www.cpr.org/2023/02/09/msu-denver-faculty-workload-burnout/
https://coloradosun.com/2023/02/09/colorado-adjunct-professors-student-loan-forgiveness/
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/legislature/colorado-advances-proposal-to-qualify-adjunct-professors-for-federal-loan-relief/article_55c279d8-a80d-11ed-8e3b-3b7b8985ecf5.html
https://msudenverff.org/