Despite identifying Ben DeGrow as an Independence Institute policy analyst in a “Speakout” column published November 25 on its opinion pages within The Denver Post's Perspective section, the Rocky Mountain News failed to mention DeGrow's affiliation with the free-market think tank in an online version of the same op-ed posted November 24 on the News' website.

DeGrow, of the Independence Institute's Education Policy Center, criticized Gov. Bill Ritter (D) for issuing his executive order, “Authorizing Partnership Agreements with State Employees,” without what DeGrow called “public accountability and transparency”:

Something is missing from Gov. Bill Ritter's executive order setting up procedures for the election of unions to serve as “exclusive representatives” of state workers: public accountability and transparency.

The least Coloradans should get is an open and public negotiation process. The order emphasizes “partnerships” between state officials and employees, but it does not discuss any “partnerships” with the taxpaying public.

[...]

Ritter has endured a lot of criticism for using backroom negotiations rather than public debate to develop and issue his executive order. By opening all the records and proceedings of state employee “partnership agreement” negotiations to the public, he could help overcome skepticism and restore confidence in his management of state government.

As Colorado Media Matters has noted (here, here, and here), Independence Institute president Jon Caldara has mischaracterized or has allowed others to misleadingly criticize Ritter's executive order on Newsradio 850 KOA, on KBDI Channel 12's Independent Thinking, and on KNUS 710 AM with host John Andrews. Colorado Media Matters also noted that an October 10 “Speakout” column by Independence Institute senior fellow in education policy and Backbone Radio co-host Krista Kafer failed to identify her conservative connections, referring to her only as a “a freelance writer living in Littleton.”