By Clay Wirestone, Kansas Reflector
Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins has repeatedly lied about the news media.
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that after he barred reporters from their traditional spot in the House, he and assorted allies spent most of last week obfuscating their actions.
I use the word “lie” for a reason here. It means to mislead with deceptive intent. GOP leaders have spread pernicious prevarications against those who seek to inform the public. It makes their protestations last week fall as flat as a pancake dropped by the Ad Astra statue atop the Statehouse dome. That is, very flat indeed.
Let me explain what happened and then break down some of the responses that Kansas Reflector reporting received.
Journalists reporting from the Kansas House traditionally used a space in the chamber for their work. The press box had been there for decades, and reporters could use it to observe the legislative process and write their stories. This excerpt from House rules sent out for the 2024 session gives the lay of the land:
During session, on the House floor, members of the media should remain in the press box, in the southwest corner of the chamber, and should refrain from roaming around the chamber for an excessive period of time. Specifically, members of the media with video cameras and those wishing to record session proceedings are to remain along the eastern wall of the House chamber for recording purposes.
This text was radically revised for 2025. That section of text now reads as follows:
During session, members of the media should remain in the East Gallery for reporting, to take pictures, and video, unless stationed along the North, East, and/or South walls of the Chamber to take photographs only. No media is allowed on the West side of the Chambers while the House is in session, which includes the Staff Desk area. TV and regular cameras can be stationed along the back (East) wall or in the East Gallery only.
The following changes have been made.
These are profound alterations. Hawkins and his staff knew it, too, as the guidance included this sentence from his staff: “review this document carefully as there have been significant changes made compared to past sessions’ rules.”
We reported all of this on the Monday of the new session, sparking coverage across Kansasand the nation.
This apparently surprised Republicans, who then hurriedly tried to explain that what they had done was not actually what they did. Unfortunately for Hawkins and his allies, it’s tough to deny that rules you promulgated somehow don’t exist.
The main objections to the reporting and my subsequent column seemed to boil down to the following.
Republican leaders, including Hawkins, tried these excuses throughout the week. It might have been better for them to say nothing, because the responses have nothing to do with what actually happened or why it mattered.
I should note here that Kansas Reflector editor Sherman Smith gave Hawkins and his staff opportunity to respond before writing the story.
They chose not to do so.
Hawkins and his staff had ample opportunity last week to revise or clarify the rules.
Now, let’s turn to the record that Smith compiled of what Hawkins has said about the news media and reporters. I’m quoting his work verbatim because it makes the point more eloquently than a summary.
His claims could be — and were — easily disproved. But Hawkins made them anyway, and he continued to make them. What’s more, he then refused to defend the First Amendment against an egregious attack by Marion law enforcement officials. Animus against news outlets and journalists shines through his comments, plain as day.
It also shines through in his office decisions.
Hawkins’ new chief of staff, Carrie Rahfaldt, popped up in an a Wichita Eagle piece that should raise alarms among those dedicated to a free press.
Reporter Chance Swaim looked into a viral video circulating of House candidate (and now Rep.) Kyler Sweely. His story’s closing section recounts former communications director Rahfaldt’s attempts to quash the story.
Swaim writes that after an interview with Sweely, Rahfaldt “demanded that the entire joint interview be ‘on background’ — reporter speak for quotes that can be used without naming the sources of information — and ‘off the record’ — meaning the quotes cannot be used. The reporter did not agree to those terms.”
He continues: “During that interview, she told the reporter to ‘kill the story’ and said if her statements were used, ‘We’re going to have some problems. If you use my statement without my permission, we’re going to have some major problems.’ ”
Rahfaldt later told the reporter she wasn’t acting on behalf of Hawkins or being paid for her assistance.
The entire exchange makes one wonder. What kind of politician employs a staffer who threatens a journalist with “major problems”? Would she have made different choices in retrospect? In her new role with Hawkins, did Rahfaldt pursue these rule changes to make Kansas journalists pay for reporting about a candidate?
Or does this all happen to be one giant coincidence?
I reached out to Rahfaldt via email Friday afternoon and asked her about Swaim’s story and the new restrictions. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she didn’t respond.
Hawkins and those around him may believe they can mislead the public about journalists with impunity. They may believe that Republican lawmakers’ power allows them to push around whoever they like, however they like. Statehouse reporters — including those from Kansas Reflector — will jump through whatever arbitrary hoops leadership erects.
Truth has a stubborn way of persisting.
Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.
