From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu

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Contact: Mike Krings, KU News Service, 785-864-8860, [email protected], @MikeKrings

One year after newspaper raid, KU journalism professor can discuss chilling effect, influence on rural journalists

LAWRENCE — Nearly one year ago, police raided a small-town Kansas newsroom to execute a search warrant and made international headlines. As the Aug. 11 anniversary of the raid of the Marion County Record in Marion approaches, the official investigation report for the incident is pending and lawsuits are being reviewed, even after the initial search warrant was dropped.

A University of Kansas journalism faculty member has conducted research about the raid and its effects on small-town journalism and is available to discuss the raid, its aftermath, the First Amendment, legal protections for journalists and related topics with the media.

Stephen Wolgast, Knight Chair in Audience and Community Engagement at KU’s William Allen White School of Journalism & Mass Communications, closely followed the raid and co-led a study with Kansas journalists about the raid’s effects.

“There is a lot of interest around this because it was so out of the blue,” Wolgast said. “As far as we know, it hasn’t happened in Kansas ever before this and rarely happens in the United States. You just don’t see law enforcement raiding newspapers and taking away hard drives.”

The raid came after the Marion County Record received a tip that a local restaurateur was driving on a suspended license following previous DUI convictions. A reporter accessed public files to investigate the tip, but a story was never published. Shortly thereafter, the Marion police, with the help of the sheriff and a fire marshal, executed a search warrant on the paper’s offices and publisher Eric Meyer’s home. Meyer’s 98-year-old mother was at home at the time of the search, and the stress of the event was a factor that led to her death the following day, the coroner said.

Wolgast said the Colorado Bureau of Investigation led a formal review of the raid after it was revealed the Kansas Bureau of Investigation knew about the planned search prior to its execution. The CBI has presented its findings to Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach’s office, which has yet to act on it. In the meantime, Wolgast and Nick Mathews of the University of Missouri have conducted a study to gauge the event’s effects on Kansas journalists.

With independent researcher Deborah Dwyer, they interviewed 18 Kansas journalists who held positions including editor, manager, publisher, owner, reporter and desk editor. They were asked four primary questions.

What were their personal and professional responses to the raid?
How, if at all, did the raid change how journalists approach their work?
What changes, if any, have newsrooms implemented in reaction to the raid?
What resources could journalists use to better protect themselves?

Several respondents said the raid had a chilling effect on their work. While about half of respondents said it didn’t change how they work, others made statements including “there’s a sense that if they can get away with this, it’ll be open season on all of us,” referring to raids on journalists. Another commented that their publication could not afford to fight such an action in the courts.

“It suggests to me some degree of reporting less aggressively than they otherwise might,” Wolgast said of the responses.

The respondents who said the raid did not change how they approach their work often stated that they have good relationships with their local law enforcement and government agencies. They also commonly said they did not make any changes in their newsrooms and even reported that many in their communities, including law enforcement and people of all political persuasions, coming together to support their newspapers and voicing displeasure at what they saw as government overreach in the raid.

When asked what resources they could use to protect themselves, several respondents reported they were unaware that Kansas has a shield law until the raid happened. They were also unaware of federal protections under the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 and said they either had received or would be interested in training from organizations like the Kansas Press Association on such protections. Others expressed concerns about their home offices being raided.

“Something we didn’t think about in advance was reporters who work from home,” Wolgast said. “They said, ‘If I’m working from home and a search warrant is executed on my newsroom, they could execute it on my home and phone.’ They asked if there was some way to protect themselves from that.”

Wolgast and Mathews will present the initial findings of their research at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications conference Aug. 10 in Philadelphia, the day before the raid’s anniversary. They continue to follow the case and will publish more of their findings in the future. They also hope to study similar press freedom cases in Mississippi, where the governor is suing a publication for defamation, and in Alabama, where a reporter and her publisher were arrested after receiving leaked grand jury testimony.

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KU News Service

1450 Jayhawk Blvd.

Lawrence KS 66045

Phone: 785-864-3256

Fax: 785-864-3339

[email protected]

http://www.news.ku.edu

Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]

Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs

From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu

Headlines

Contact: Carrie Caine, Institute for Policy & Social Research, 785-864-9102, [email protected]

New dashboard shows the scope and uses of federal funding streams in Kansas

LAWRENCE — The Institute for Policy & Social Research at the University of Kansas published a new data dashboard showing the flow of federal funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) into Kansas. As of March 2024, over $11.5 billion has been expended across the state through programs funded by the CARES Act and ARPA. 

This tool offers a transparent look at the funding released through these programs, and the dashboard can help users understand how that funding has affected different parts of Kansas.

“I believe this is an important step toward showing Kansans how their tax dollars are being spent. The more transparency and accountability, the better,” said former Kansas lawmaker Jim Slattery, who helped formulate the project. “I believe it is very important for the people of Kansas to know how many tax dollars they send to Topeka and to the federal government in Washington, D.C., and to know how much money flows back to the different counties in Kansas from Topeka and Washington. This information may be surprising to many Kansans.” 

The dashboard shows funds received by county, by fund and by spending categories such as child care, education and economic revitalization.

Users can filter spending data by funding program, including both CARES Act and ARPA programs. Expenditures include $7.38 billion in Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loans under the CARES Act, which accounts for about 64% of total Kansas federal expenditures to date. As of September 2023, 99% of PPP loans in Kansas had been forgiven.   

Users can also look at county totals and spending per capita alongside statewide figures. State and local governments have until Dec. 31, 2026, to spend funds awarded by ARPA. Most CARES Act spending was concluded by the end of 2022. The dashboard will be updated as spending reports are submitted to the federal government.  

“Determining the extent to which geographic areas are benefiting from federal funds is always an important, if challenging, public policy metric,” said Chris Courtwright, member of the Governor’s Council on Tax Reform. “The new data dashboard rolled out by KU’s IPSR provides a fascinating look at two of the most recent federal funding streams coming into Kansas provided under CARES and ARPA. Keeping this modeling capacity updated for additional federal expenditures from these and other federal revenue streams would be especially useful for policymakers at all levels.” 

The Kansas Office of Recovery funded this project. IPSR staff will continue to maintain and update the dashboard through at least 2027. Should users have questions, ideas or comments, they can contact the Kansas State Data Center at IPSR by email.  

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KU News Service

1450 Jayhawk Blvd.

Lawrence KS 66045

Phone: 785-864-3256

Fax: 785-864-3339

[email protected]

http://www.news.ku.edu

Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]

Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs

From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu

Headlines

Contact: Jon Niccum, KU News Service, 785-864-7633, [email protected]

New translation of Ovid’s ‘Heroides’ offers insight into ‘ancient fan fiction’

LAWRENCE — Publius Ovidius Naso — better known to modern readers as Ovid — was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. Much of his life was shrouded in mystery, and his works remain equally admired and scrutinized.

“His poetry straddles that line between humor and sincerity,” said Tara Welch, a professor of classics at the University of Kansas. “You can’t always tell whether to take him seriously or not.”

Welch is part of a team responsible for a new translation of Ovid’s “Heroides.” A collection of 15 letters written by women to the men who have left them behind, “Heroides” (translated as “The Heroines”) can be described as “ancient fan fiction.” Along with KU professor emeritus of classics Stanley Lombardo and University of Oxford graduate student Melina McClure, Welch wrote the 37-page intro that contextualizes the poems.

It is published by Hackett Classics.

A younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, Ovid (43 B.C. to 17 or 18 A.D.) is ranked as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature.

“He’s very clever. I find it hard to pin down whether he’s being cute or serious — I think he’s being both at the same time. So sometimes I pick up the text and have fun with it. And then other times, I pick it up and say, ‘Wow, that hits really hard,’” she said.

The professor said it was challenging to marshal 200 years of scholarship through a half-dozen different languages. For her, the hardest thing was getting so much background into a comprehensible format for people who might be familiar with the myths but not with their complexity in classical literature. She notes how there are many technical literary concepts that bring to bear on this work, such as genre and intertextuality.

She cites the opening poem, “Penelope to Ulysses,” as among her favorites in the collection.

“I love the first line: ‘Don’t write back — just get yourself home!’” she said.

“It brings together the collection’s core ideas of separation and closeness. The letter is supposed to bridge the gap between Penelope and her husband, but is the letter actually an act of communication, or is she just complaining?”

Welch said there are several reasons why modern audiences should appreciate the work of a poet who lived two millennia ago.

“One, it’s just a beautifully written text. It’s artistically gorgeous. Another is that many of our ideas about heroism, myths, culture and women come from ancient Roman culture. It’s easier to see those ideas at work and hold them up to scrutiny when it’s voiced by someone else,” she said.

“Finally, Ovid wrote at a time when we have many other extant authors. It was a watershed moment in history when the Roman Republic has just fallen and there’s a new empire under essentially a monarch. Reading him in that context is really great. He’s not just a one-off who is our only voice from that time. He can help illuminate a truly complex situation.”

Does Welch consider Ovid a feminist?

“Yes and no,” she said. “But more yes than no. He’s a feminist in that he exposes some of the aspects and workings of gender ideology in antiquity. But he was not trying to radically change society.”

Now in her 27th year at KU, Welch specializes in Latin poetry. She is the author of “Tarpeia: Workings of a Roman Myth” (Ohio State University Press, 2015) and “The Elegiac Cityscape: Propertius and the Meaning of Roman Monuments” (Ohio State University Press, 2005).

“I would be thrilled if more people outside classics read ‘Heroides,’” Welch said. “Right now mythology is so popular with young adult readers — they help keep those stories alive. I hope Ovid’s voice will be part of that evolving dialogue.”

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KU News Service

1450 Jayhawk Blvd.

Lawrence KS 66045

Phone: 785-864-3256

Fax: 785-864-3339

[email protected]

http://www.news.ku.edu

Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]

Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs

From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu

Media advisory

Contact: KU News Service staff, [email protected], @KUNews

KU experts can comment on 2024 elections, related topics

LAWRENCE — As a contentious U.S. election season heads toward November, University of Kansas experts are available to discuss with media the candidates, key issues, procedures and narratives of the 2024 races.

Read on for experts by topic; some experts appear under multiple categories.

Artificial intelligence

John Symons, professor of philosophy, can discuss artificial intelligence, including large languages models such as ChatGPT. His research explores the social, technological and existential concerns inherent to AI. Symons also is director of KU’s Center for Cyber Social Dynamics, home for the interdisciplinary and cross-cultural study of the relationship between internet and data-driven technologies and society, politics and culture. (Media contact: Jon Niccum, 785-864-7633)

Children and politics

Meagan Patterson, professor of educational psychology, can discuss how parents can talk about the election, candidates, politics, civic processes such as voting and difficult topics with children. Patterson has conducted research on children’s opinions on race, how picture books can introduce young readers to politics, political and civic engagement, intergroup attitudes as well as gender and race in child development. (Media contact: Mike Krings, 785-864-8860)

China, international trade

Raj Bhala, Brenneisen Distinguished Professor of Law, can discuss the international trade policies of the respective candidates and parties, the trade war with China, free trade agreements (including NAFTA/USMCA), the World Trade Organization, U.S. relations with India and Iran, labor rights and forced labor, and other international legal, economic, political and national security matters. With over three decades of experience, Bhala is the author of 100 law review articles and 13 books, including the brand new “International Trade Law: A Comprehensive E-Textbook, Sixth Edition,” which is freely available Open Access on KU ScholarWorks. (Media contact: Mike Krings, 785-864-8860)

Jack Zhang, assistant professor of political science, can discuss the political and economic relationship between the U.S and China. Zhang is also the founder and director of the KU Trade War Lab. His research explores the political economy of trade and conflict in East Asia with a focus on explaining why interdependent countries use military versus economic coercion in foreign policy disputes. (Media contact: Jon Niccum, 785-864-7633)

Conservatism, social movements

David Farber, Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor in the Department of History, can discuss the history of modern conservatism, capitalism in 20th-century U.S. history, democratic practices and social change movements, particularly how those of the 1960s and 1970s relate to events of today. Farber is the author of more than a dozen books, including “The War on Drugs: a History,” “The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism” and “The Age of Great Dreams: America in the 1960s.” (Media contact: Jon Niccum, 785-864-7633)

Rachel Schwaller, multiterm lecturer in the departments of History and of Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies, can speak about the history of white, conservative Christians in America. Her research builds on the field of anthropology of scriptures, scripturalization and biblicism. (Media contact: Jon Niccum, 785-864-7633)

Debates and speeches

Brett Bricker is a Department of Communication Studies faculty member and assistant coach for KU’s nationally ranked debate team. He co-wrote a chapter in the 2016 book “Debating the Donald,” which analyzed Trump’s performances in the intraparty debates that led up to him winning the GOP nomination. Bricker is available to comment upon any candidate’s debate preparation and/or performance. As a scholar, Bricker has examined how hyperpartisanship has affected the “political apology.” (Media contact: Rick Hellman, 785-864-8852)

Robert Rowland, professor of communication studies, is available to journalists to comment upon the speeches, campaign rhetoric and debating styles used by candidates seeking the presidency and vice presidency. Rowland is a leading expert on presidential rhetoric and author of the 2021 book “The Rhetoric of Donald Trump: Nationalist Populism and American Democracy.” The KU researcher has specialized in the rhetorical legacies of presidents, calling Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama “once in a generation” communicators who raised the sights of their fellow citizens to lofty national ideals. Trump, he has called “a master at creating fear and hatred of others,” while he assesses President Joe Biden’s performance in his June 27 faceoff with Trump as the worst in the history of televised presidential debates. (Media contact: Rick Hellman, 785-864-8852)

Election administration and election workers

Zach Mohr, associate professor of public affairs & administration, can speak about the business of elections, including the cost of holding elections on federal, state and local levels, public accounting of government spending, election administration and the role of election workers. Mohr studies public budgeting, accounting and financial management and is the author of the book “Cost Accounting in Government: Theory and Applications” and is writing a book on the cost of elections on a local level. Mohr has also testified before the Congressional Committee on House Administration and was a city administrator before entering academia. (Media contact: Mike Krings, 785-864-8860)

Energy policy

Christopher Koliba, Edwin O. Stene Distinguished Professor of Public Affairs and Administration, can speak about issues including governance; accountability in governance; government employees at federal, state and local levels; sustainability in policy and communities; critical infrastructure; natural disaster mitigation and energy policy. He is author of the book “Governance Network in Public Administration and Public Policy” and dozens of book chapters and journal articles on governance, government networks, sustainability, policy and related topics. Koliba will also be director of KU’s Center for Democratic Governance, which will open this fall. Editors: Koliba can also discuss government accountability and the labor force. (Media contact: Mike Krings, 785-864-8860)

Extremism

Don Haider-Markel, professor of political science, can speak about political extremism, national political trends and potential policy implications. His research includes American politics and public policy that deals with a wide number of issues, including Christian nationalism, gun ownership, military service controversies and LGBTQ politics. Editors: Haider-Markel can also discuss gun ownership and LGBTQ politics. (Media contact: Jon Niccum, 785-864-7633)

Gun ownership

Margaret Kelley, professor of American studies, examines the relationship between women, guns and modern culture. Using her comprehensive Guns in American Life Survey, she has explored topics involving how this is intersects with gun ownership, racism, religion and veterans. (Media contact: Jon Niccum, 785-864-7633)

Mark Joslyn, professor of political science, can discuss issues of partisanship and political attitudes. He is co-author of several studies on what influences voter attitudes, including level of education, gun rights and understanding of genetics. His book “The Gun Gap” captures the differences between gun owners and non-gun owners and shows how this gap improves conventional behavioral and attitudinal models. Joslyn can also discuss partisanship. (Media contact: Jon Niccum, 785-864-7633)

Editors: Don Haider-Markel can also discuss gun ownership.

Housing

Kirk McClure, professor emeritus of public affairs & administration, can speak to issues of housing, housing policy, affordability of housing and government housing programs, as well as homelessness. McClure has conducted research in housing markets, examined federal affordable housing programs and was a scholar in residence in the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Department of Policy Development and Research. (Media contact: Mike Krings, 785-864-8860)

Labor force

Misty Heggeness, associate professor of public affairs and administration and associate research scientist at the Institute for Policy & Social Research, can discuss women in the American workforce, economics, the care economy, working mothers and how government policy influences women’s economic well-being. Heggeness has published research on “girly economics,” or how care work influences the economy; “Swiftynomics,” how Taylor Swift is both an economic engine and representative of women’s influence in the larger economy; and she is leading research on the role of young adults in the workforce. Editors: Heggeness can also discuss women and politics. (Media contact: Mike Krings, 785-864-8860)

Editors: Koliba can also discuss the labor force.

Latino American politics

Tiffany Gonzalez, assistant professor of history, can speak about U.S. politics, Chicano-Latino history, women’s history and social movements. Her upcoming book is titled “Representation of Change: How Chicanas Reshaped the American Political Process in the Late Twentieth Century.” Editors: Gonzalez can also discuss women and politics. (Media contact: Rick Hellman, 785-864-8852)

Alcides Velasquez, associate professor of communication studies, has researched several topics relating to the use of social media by the Latino community and how that relates to their political participation like his 2018 study. (Media contact: Rick Hellman, 785-864-8852)

LGBTQ politics

Editors: Haider-Markel can discuss this topic.

Partisanship

Kevin Mullinix, associate professor of political science, examines the extent to which political parties and elected officials shape the public’s attitudes toward various policies. His past articles include studies of police use of excessive force, wrongful convictions and racial disparities in traffic stops. He is author of the book “The Politics of Innocence: How Wrongful Convictions Shape Public Opinion.” (Media contact: Jon Niccum, 785-864-7633)

Editors: Joslyn also can discuss partisanship.

Women and politics

Mary Banwart, professor of communication studies, is available to comment on topics that relate to women in American politics, from suffrage to today. Banwart has co-written the book “Gender and Politics: Changing the Face of Civic Life,” coming out later this summer. The book analyzes the latest research — including results from the 2022 midterms — on the role that gender plays in political campaigns, from media coverage to social attitudes. (Media contact: Rick Hellman, 785-864-8852)

Hannah Britton, professor in the departments of Political Science and of Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies, can discuss women and politics and the prevention of gender-based violence. She is also the director of KU’s Center for the Study of Injustice at the Institute of Policy & Social Research. (Media contact: Jon Niccum, 785-864-7633)

Teri Finneman, associate professor of journalism, can discuss media representations of women candidates, coverage of presidential and other candidates, political coverage outside of major media markets and media portrayals of first ladies throughout U.S. history. Finneman is the author of the books “Reviving Rural News: Transforming the Business Model of Community Journalism in the U.S. and Beyond” and “Press Portrayals of Women Politicians, 1870s-2000s” and is creator and host of “The First Ladies” podcast. (Media contact: Mike Krings, 785-864-8860)

Editors: Gonzalez and Heggeness can also discuss women and politics.

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KU News Service

1450 Jayhawk Blvd.

Lawrence KS 66045

Phone: 785-864-3256

Fax: 785-864-3339

[email protected]

http://www.news.ku.edu

Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]

Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs