American journalists are serving their country by being skeptical of the war on terrorism, Cokie Roberts said Wednesday.

Roberts, who was in Lawrence to receive the William Allen White National Citation, said she disagreed with ABC News’ decision to ban on-air personalities from wearing flags on their outfits.

ABC and National Public Radio newswoman Cokie Roberts speaks to students in a journalism class at Kansas University. Roberts was at KU on Wednesday to receive the William Allen White National Citation for outstanding journalism and was the keynote speaker for the annual William Allen White Day celebration.

“I say wear a flag to show you’re a patriot, and as a journalist do your patriotic duty to ask the tough questions,” she said.

Roberts is chief congressional analyst for ABC News, co-host of ABC’s “This Week with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts” and an analyst for National Public Radio.

During a lecture before about 500 people at Kansas University’s Woodruff Auditorium, she praised the media’s coverage of events following Sept. 11.

“We’ve taught people a lot about the country of Afghanistan,” she said. “I think we’ve done a good job of teaching Americans about Islam. I think the fact that most of Americans knew it was Ramadan this year is remarkable.”

Though Roberts said the Pentagon should allow more access to troops in Afghanistan, she downplayed the Bush administration’s request not to air complete videos showing Osama bin Laden for fear he would send coded messages.

“I think they genuinely were concerned about it,” she said. “The competitive pressures are real, so the pressures to get (the video) out and be first are greater in the end than any directive from government.”

During her speech and at a morning news conference, Roberts sounded off on several current political topics:

l She said she hasn’t seen any evidence of wrongdoing with the Bush administration’s handling of Enron’s bankruptcy.

“Everybody’s trying to find a way to get in and take advantage of it politically without getting burned,” she said.

l She said approval of an economic stimulus package doesn’t appear likely or even necessary, considering economic reports indicating recovery.

l She blamed voters for stalled campaign finance reform, saying they haven’t pushed Congress hard enough.

l She said the capture of Wall Street Journal Reporter Danny Pearl in Pakistan makes her ask, “Is any story worth it?

“It is your job, and if you’re going to get the news out and tell what is going on, it’s a risk you have to take,” she said.

Wednesday morning, Roberts met with about 30 journalism students taking a media history course. She urged them not to focus too much on their careers.

“There will always be another story or another job,” she said. “There may never be another time to spend time with someone who’s growing up, dying, having a joyful moment in their life or a sorrowful moment in their life. You can never recapture time with friends and family.”

She also urged students not to be too cynical about government a trait she said White, the Emporia newspaper publisher, possessed.

The William Allen White Foundation’s National Citation Award is given annually. Past recipients include Bob Woodward, George Will, Walter Cronkite and Charles Kuralt. The award is named for the former Emporia Gazette editor, after whom the KU School of Journalism is named.

The foundation also handed out its Burton W. Marvin Award for excellence in Kansas journalism. Awards this year went to the Miami County Republic for a story about the shooting of a black Paola resident by a white police officer in a drug raid; The Newton Kansan for a series on methamphetamine use and trafficking; and to The Kansas City Star for a series on the trucking industry’s safety record.