title:  This Newspaper Is Filing A Lawsuit Against A Republican Lawmaker For Calling Them ‘Fake News’
text: Donald Trump better watch out because news organizations aren t going to take being called  fake news  anymore.If the Daily Sentinel files a defamation lawsuit against a Republican Colorado state senator it could trigger an avalanche of lawsuits by news organizations across the country.On Wednesday, the Sentinel published an opinion piece demanding that GOP state Senator Ray Scott allow an open records bill to pass the committee he chairs.Public records laws are important tools for combating misinformation and getting to the truth. But the state has no obligation to provide electronic records in useful formats that easily lend themselves to analysis.Senate Bill 40 would change that. The bill requires records custodians to provide records in digital forms if kept that way and requested as such. If a government agency keeps records in an Excel spreadsheet, for example, it should deliver them via open records request in the same format   not paper copies or PDFs, which aren t searchable, sortable or easy to aggregate.But first SB40 has to get past the same Senate committee that killed a similar version last year. The State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee was supposed to consider the bill on Monday but Republican Sen. Ray Scott of Grand Junction, who chairs the committee, said it wouldn t be heard as scheduled. SB 40 deserves a fair hearing before the full Senate,  the Sentinel continued.  We call on our own Sen. Scott to announce a new committee hearing date and move this bill forward. Open records shouldn t be a partisan issue. We have a difficult time understanding why anyone would oppose easier access to government data, which belongs to the public. Well, Scott didn t like being called out so he responded by accusing the Sentinel of being  fake news. The very liberal GJ Sentinel is attempting to apply pressure for me to move a bill,  Scott wrote.  They have no facts, as usual, and tried to call me out on SB 40 know as the CORA bill. They haven t contacted me to get any information on why the bill has been delayed but choose to run a fake news story demanding I run the bill. You may have a barrel of ink but it just splashed in your face. We have our own fake news in Grand Junction.. The very liberal GJ Sentinel is attempting to apply (more: https://t.co/VYmpfgM6X9 )  Ray Scott (@SCOTTFORCOLO) February 9, 2017Once again, a Republican attacked the media by calling them  fake news  in response to a story they don t like.As we have seen on the national level, news outlets have begun directly calling out Donald Trump whenever he refers to a media outlet as  fake news. But the Daily Sentinel is going a step further, and if they succeed, Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway, and other Republicans should be more careful about what they say. Setting aside for the moment the mischaracterizations and mistakes in Sen. Scott s tweet, (though it is true we were not able to reach him about why he canceled the hearing) the concern for me is the allegation that the Sentinel peddles  fake news,  wrote Sentinel publisher Jay Seaton.  His tweet is patently, provably false. Worse, he made his false statement knowingly for the purpose of diminishing the only real asset this newspaper has: its credibility. Seaton is letting things cool down for the moment, but is planning on filing a defamation lawsuit against Scott.This would be a huge deal since the Sentinel would be the first news outlet to sue a lawmaker for calling them  fake news. Keep in mind that Donald Trump has repeatedly called CNN, the New York Times and other mainstream media outlets  fake news  on Twitter and during press conferences. So have other members of his administration in response to stories they don t like.Imagine if all of these news outlets got together and filed a massive defamation lawsuit against Trump.It would be monumental and Trump would be in serious trouble, too, because he would have to prove his  fake news  claims in court. Meanwhile, the media has demonstrated on multiple occasions that Trump is wrong whenever he accuses them of running  fake news  stories.In short, Donald Trump should really stop calling the media  fake news.  They have a case against him and if this lawsuit by the Daily Sentinel moves forward and succeeds, more lawsuits of this nature could be forthcoming and Trump would be the top target.Featured image via Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images