Local Republicans say trust in media has declined

As Colorado Community Media reporters Nina Joss and McKenna Harford embarked on their investigation of issues facing the Republican party in Colorado, they were met with notable hesitancy and resistance from many potential sources.

One 2022 county race candidate, two county GOP leaders, four voters and Rep. Brandi Bradley of Douglas County all declined to interview for the story or did not respond to requests for comment.

Of these, three explicitly pointed to distrust in the media as their reason for declining.

A 2021 survey by the Pew Research Center shows that only 35% of Republicans and Republicanleaning independents say they have “a lot” or “some” trust in the information that comes from national news organizations.

According to the Knight Foundation, trust in local news also declined in the party from 2019-2021. is distrust, in addition to causing potential sources to decline interviews, created hesitancy in others who did end up participating in the reporting process.

Suzanne Taheri, formerly Suzanne Staiert, served as the Arapahoe County GOP Chair from 2021 until 2023. When Joss reached out to Taheri to request an interview, she initially declined, pointing to a disagreement with Colorado Community Media in the past.

After a meeting with CCM South Metro Editor elma Grimes, Taheri agreed to interview for the story because she started to believe the planned article was not a “hit piece” as she had originally suspected.

“(Grimes) said, ‘I mean, we’re actually … trying to do a legitimate story,’” Taheri said. “I think that, had it been a hit piece, you probably would have just moved on to nd your next target.”

In Taheri’s eyes, trust in the

Anne Rowland, Arapahoe County GOP chair

media among Republicans is weak. When Donald Trump entered the national scene, Taheri said the media became even more polarized and separation between “journalists and pundits,” which was already blurry, disappeared.

“Some (journalists) tried or successfully put aside any biases they had and just reported the facts,” she said. “Now, that just doesn’t sell. And so when you say ‘trust in the media,’ you’re saying ‘trust in a pundit,’ which is completely di erent than trusting journalism.”

Although local media tends to be seen as more trustworthy than national news outlets, local journalists can still help improve trust by “sticking together and kicking everyone else out of the pool,” she said.

Anne Rowland, Taheri’s successor, was also uncertain about participating in the story until a colleague told her that Joss had quoted a source correctly in the past.

“I didn’t answer (your call) at rst on purpose because I wanted to nd out who you were and should

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I trust you and give you the time to speak to you,” she said to Joss. “My job’s already hard enough without somebody else making it hard.”

“I think there is a very big distrust of the media, particularly from Republicans,” she said. “And it’s not just the stories that get put out, but there are stories that are not put out.”

To move forward, Rowland thinks journalists need to build relationships.

“I think you need to sit down, have a cup of co ee, and build a relationship,” she said. “And then be fair in how you report it.”

Kevin Edling, who ran for Arapahoe County sheri against Democrat Tyler Brown in 2022, said all media, including local media, should get back to the “baseline of reporting facts and not reaching conclusions for the reader or for the viewer.”

“I know that the American public is smart enough to come up with their own conclusions,” he said. As the Republican Party works on getting its message out to voters, Edling said being able to work with members of the media is important.

“It doesn’t matter if I disagree with (a reporter) or I agree with (a reporter),” he said. “I should always have a relationship with the media. It’s important. is is what people read, this is what people view and this is what people listen to.”

Documentary lmmaker Don Colacino documented Joss and Harford’s reporting process for this story as part of his upcoming lm about trust in news. e trailer and more information on the lm, Trusted Sources, are available at https://www.trustdoc lm.com/.

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• Keep it polite: No name calling or “mudslinging.” said consensus like ernment fewer and the ated sook voters same tion, Republican tics he their we back and cial are rights, law o importance ideals, party why not they a win, because Swing to can out bankrupt to nity needs licans real while making harder cratic cans are way Rock, on for in provement not ability,” had they Get the Edling better media, said ideas that already have broad consensus in the Republican party, like addressing crime, keeping government small with low taxes and fewer regulations, educational choice and promoting individualism, have the best chance of recruiting una liated voters.

While campaigning in 2020, Hartsook said he found that una liated voters and Republicans shared the same concerns with growing in ation, crime and cost of living.

For Edling, the core values of the Republican party are scal.

“What truly is not divisive in politics is people’s money — their wallet,” he said. “People often vote with their wallet. Money is money. So if we could somehow turn our politics back into something we all agree on, and we want to protect — our nancial freedom, our nancial resources.”

For Baker, core conservative values are limited government, property rights, the rule of law and supporting law enforcement and public safety o cers.

Instead of mainly focusing on the importance of these Republican ideals, state GOP chair Williams said party leaders need to show voters why Democrats are corrupt.

“Here’s the truth: swing voters are not driven by ideology, otherwise they would a liate,” he said during a February debate. “If we’re going to win, let’s provide that bold contrast because our issues do, in fact, win. Swing voters, speci cally, just want to be able to vote for someone they can trust. And I assure you, if we call out the Democrats for being morally bankrupt and corrupted, we’re going to earn their trust.”

In an email to Colorado Community Media, Williams said the GOP needs to “show that Colorado Republicans care about resolving their very real kitchen table, pocketbook issues while exposing radical Democrats for making hard working citizens’ lives harder and more expensive.”

In addition to pointing out Democratic failures, Rowland said Republicans need to o er a better way.

“We have to say, ‘ is, this and this are going wrong — here’s a better way to x them,’” she said.

State Rep. Lisa Frizell, R-Castle Rock, said the lack of improvement on many issues will be a motivator for people to start voting Republican.

“We’re not seeing an improvement in crime. We’re not seeing an improvement in homelessness. We’re not seeing an improvement in a ordability,” she said. “Democrats have had years to x these problems and they have been unable to.”

Get the brand out like Tony the Tiger

To get the party’s message out, Edling said the party needs to do a better job marketing through social media, schools and extracurriculars.

He said the GOP could even consider hiring a consultant to help.

“We have to do a better job of marketing to all our young people for both parties to get the future talent of politicians (and) leaders,” he said. “I want young, new, bright faces, new ideas to come out.”

Andrews, who ran for Arapahoe County assessor, said this messaging needs to start in schools.

“We keep talking about reaching out to the young people,” he said. “ at’s just lip service — unless we start creating some young Republican clubs in every high school, it’s not gonna matter because all of the teachers and the media are speaking the language of the young people, and we’re not even in the game.”

In Taheri’s eyes, the party will be di cult to brand as long as Trump is still the national focus. Trump, facing criminal charges in New York, has already announced he will run for president in 2024.

“I just think it’s going to be really hard (to sell the issues) in Arapahoe County if Trump’s still in the picture.” Taheri said. “I just think his tone, I mean, I just don’t see many suburban women supporting something like that. Arapahoe is a very educated county. I just don’t think any of us wanted that in our living room.”

From her perspective in the Capitol, Frizell said divisions in the party can distract from policy e orts to tackle constituents’ problems.

“We have to come together and unify if we’re ever going to succeed,” she said.

In Rowland’s eyes, the one true key to uniting the party and xing its image is to put real e ort into building relationships such as doing more community service, an idea she got from Boulder GOP Chair George Tristan.

“I think if the person you know — the person that came and helped build a tiny house for you, the person that came and did whatever service project your church was working on, and you meet that person, and you get to know them — that’s the person you vote for and you don’t pay attention to whether there’s an R or a D by their name,” she said. “Here in Colorado, it almost seems as though the R is like a scarlet letter.”

Both in the greater community and within the party itself, Rowland thinks the only way toward unity is giving each other a chance — sitting down for a cup of co ee over disagreement, and nding common ground.

“We have a Tony the Tiger problem,” she said. “For years, Tony the Tiger has taught us that Frosted Flakes are great. We grew up knowing that. But kids today grow up thinking Republicans are mean on social issues, that they’re too narrow-minded and too traditional and they don’t like any new ideas.”

“We have to be able to have discussions, respectful discussions, to come to a place where we can message,” she said. “And if we can’t agree on something, where can we work towards?”