August 10, 2011 04:03 AM UTC

Today In Really Terrible Ideas

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• by: Colorado Pols

WEDNESDAY UPDATE: While this post was being written last night, the Denver paper announced that Michael Hancock’s office has backed off and will allow recording devices in these press briefings. A change of heart reportedly coming after furious pushback from reporters, it’s still totally inexplicable why Hancock’s people would attempt to do this at all.

In an editorial today, the Denver paper calls Hancock’s chage of heart “a wise step in the wake of a misstep.” But they do not excuse the misstep.

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Denver Mayor Michael Hancock has had a bit of a difficult time with the local media — a rocky relationship that got off on the wrong foot amid stories linking him to a prostitution ring right at the end of the June runoff election. The negative stories surrounding those allegations had a lot to do with several bizarre decisions in Hancock’s camp that served only to encourage the media coverage, but while that story eventually died out, Team Hancock doesn’t seem to have learned any lessons in media relations. From The Associated Press:

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock’s administration says it will bar recording devices from background briefings with the press to keep the lines of communications open.

The pen and paper meetings with the press will start Wednesday. A press release sent to members of the press on Tuesday said no recording devices including cameras or video cameras will be allowed.

We really don’t understand what Hancock’s office hopes to accomplish with this policy other than to anger the media even further. Reporters and editors are unlikely to agree to this stipulation, nor should they — we’ve never heard of a local elected official doing this. Press secretary Amber Miller says the no-recording policy is necessary to keep Denver residents informed…which makes about as much sense as the Denver Broncos telling reporters that they can attend the team’s games so long as they don’t report on the score. This is a ridiculous idea, and we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Hancock reversing this policy very soon.