In White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s first briefing after Donald Trump was sworn in as president, Americans watched as the new spokesman berated the press for underestimating the size of the crowds for Trump’s inauguration. He took no questions.  

“This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration – period – both in person and around the globe,” Spicer said – a comment that is widely regarded as false.

“This kind of dishonesty in the media … is making it more difficult,” Spicer continued.  

“There’s been a lot of talk in the media about the responsibility to hold Donald Trump accountable. And I’m here to tell you that it goes two ways. We’re going to hold the press accountable as well.”

Days later, Trump himself backed a notion held within his administration that the mainstream media is the “opposition party” to his presidency. The administration has said that “the media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while.”

“The dishonesty, total deceit and deception. It makes them certainly partially the opposition party,” Trump said in a recent interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network.

The Trump administration has essentially declared war on the media.

It’s a frightening reality, and one that I hope never makes its way to Colorado.

In the Centennial State, we in the media value our relationships with elected and government officials, just as we equally respect relationships with the communications directors who speak for those officials. And it’s a mutual sentiment. 

Recently, however, there have been some tense exchanges between the media and Senate Republicans’ communications director, Sean Paige.

As the communications director for Senate Republicans, Paige has never tried to tone it down or keep quiet when he disagrees. He has strong opinions, having previously worked as the deputy state director for Americans for Prosperity and other conservative causes. His opinions are his own, and he owns those opinions. On its face, there’s nothing wrong with having a strong personality.

Things came to a bit of a climax recently when Paige invited members of the “professional press” into a briefing with GOP Sen. Jim Smallwood of Parker to discuss Smallwood’s bill to repeal the Colorado health insurance exchange. 

A reporter asked what Smallwood thought about the Affordable Care Act. The connection was pretty obvious, as the exchange was born out of so-called “Obamacare.”

Paige attempted to block the question. Reporters objected, saying the question was completely valid. Smallwood agreed to answer the question. 

At some point, the same reporter who asked the original ACA question asked a more general question about what else cold be done to address health insurance issues. Paige attempted to bring the briefing to a close.

Some in the room felt Paige antagonized reporters by raising his voice, and some in the press corps raised theirs in return, frustrated that Paige shut down the availability just as things were getting interesting. They felt Smallwood should decide whether to answer questions.

I can’t remember another time in my eight years working in the building when a communications director dictated which questions could be asked.

In Paige’s defense, he had scheduled a 30-minute availability that had already run 15 minutes over. Paige had to reserve the room. He requested access to the meeting space under the assumption that only a small group would show. More attended than expected, including Democratic operatives, which also heightened the anxiety level.

Paige wasn’t just feeling pressure to protect his senator. He also was feeling anxious about the length of time the room was being occupied for, and the number of people in there.

It was a dustup. But it was just that, a tense moment that would pass. Because in Colorado we sweep those things under the rug and move on so that critical issues can be fairly reported to the public so that they stay informed.

House Republicans recently invited reporters to an off-the-record happy hour in an effort to help representatives get to know the Capitol press corps. Despite the blowups recently with Paige, Senate Republicans are moving forward with a similar happy hour with the media “to facilitate openness and mutual understanding.”

The House speaker has also long held a poker game that members of the media are often invited to join. The House is controlled this year by Democrats, so it will be Speaker Crisanta Duran who would host the game during the current session.

The bitter fights that are seen on the national level with the media just don’t happen in Colorado. When there is tension, it happens, and then we move on. We rise above that noise. It’s who we are as Coloradans, and as mostly fair and balanced reporters.

In the end, it’s about relationships. And we in the media hope to continue to build those relationships for decades to come. We just promise neither the media nor the lawmakers will get too chummy, so that each can do their jobs properly.