To the editor:

“Do You Believe Everything You Read in the Newspaper?”

District Attorney Suzanne Valdez thus questioned a constituent Saturday during a forum at the Lawrence Public Library. She took issue with a question premised upon newspaper coverage.

Today, I’m reading about a Kansas Teacher of the Year, a 2021 Lowell Milken teaching fellow. During a legislative hearing the teacher was castigated, identified as a reason people don’t want “to become teachers.” The teacher’s testimony had been critical of legislators who make false claims that Kansas teachers spread “sexualized woke agendas.” The teacher cited a 2022 news report that a Kansas Republican legislator remarked, “The mental health people are telling [teachers] to go ahead and put sandboxes in the restroom for [kids who identify as cats] encouraging them to express themselves.”

There’s a little to unpack here. Should I believe news reports that a legislator might say — and believe — that “woke” teachers have been offering sandboxes to Kansas students? Sadly, “yes.” Do I believe his claim? Of course not. Can I believe that a Republican legislator might feel entitled to personally attack a citizen who would dare to criticize legislators for offering up such obvious tripe? Again, “yes,” sadly. Sadly, “yes.”

So, back to Ms. Valdez’s rhetorical question. That we don’t like news doesn’t render it “fake”; facts we don’t like don’t just go away. Newspapers aren’t infallible, but, typically, they’re trying to get it right. Then it’s up to us to pay attention. It’s up to us to listen, read and make reasoned choices separating fact from folly.

William Skepnek,

Lawrence