There’s a lot to learn from newspapers beyond the news

The headline on a front-page story Tuesday reminded me of a fact that may not always be readily apparent to newspaper readers: You learn a lot more about our society and our world from newspapers than just what is going on in the world.

“It’s all chemistry,” read the main headline to a report on why leaves appear to be changing color earlier than usual this fall.

In a story whose obvious purpose is to explain a natural phenomenon, you of course expect to learn something. If you read it, it’s because you’re curious to know why what you seem to be seeing is happening. But do you expect to learn chemistry? Indeed, I suspect that if your morning paper had beckoned, “Let’s learn some chemistry today,” you would have turned quickly to the Comics section.

But Katlyn Smith and Mick Zawislak’s report helped demonstrate that there are practical everyday applications to all those abstract ideas we pick up in school lessons. The chemistry that Barb McKittrick, environmental education manager for the Forest Preserve District of Kane County, referred to in the quote from which our headline was taken pertains to certain things involving chlorophyll and other leaf components you might have well remembered from explanations over the years about why leaves change colors, but it also applies to certain other things you might not have thought as much about — such as the impact of prolonged dry spells or the lengthening periods of darkness in the deepening fall.

Chemistry is far from the only subject you would have learned something about by following the news this week. Government and social studies are topics where you may constantly be learning more than you realize. Stories about the impasse over a government spending authorization plan always deal with the politics holding up a solution or leading to one, but they’re also founded on explanations of why we even have a requirement for a spending authorization in the first place.

A wire story we carried Wednesday on an arcane Nebraska debate over how to allot electoral votes doesn’t just present the political context of the arguments on both sides, it also shows that only two states — Nebraska and Maine — allot electoral votes for president based on congressional districts rather than a winner-takes-all of a state’s votes. And it shows how Nebraska’s situation could factor into a national electoral vote tie that would throw the election outcome into the U.S. House of Representatives.

So, there. You’ve learned something about the Electoral College and the U.S. constitution, among much else.

Some other things you might have noticed this week that you didn’t realize you were learning:

• Sports history: Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams may be off to a rough start with the Bears; but he’s not alone. Hall of Famer Peyton Manning posted similar numbers in his rookie season. (Mike McGraw column on Tuesday.)

• Health: Contrary to popular belief, people don’t outgrow ADHD (Monday Health & Fitness column on children’s health).

• Media, law and constitutional rights: A judge emphasized in an emerging libel case involving a news network and a voting technology company that freedom of speech doesn’t mean you can say or write anything you want. “Defamation is not free speech. Lying about somebody is not protected speech.” (Page 6 wire story on Sunday).

• History, horticulture: “Pickin’ up paw paws, put ‘em in your pocket?” You’re going to need some deep pockets. Paw paws are the largest edible fruit native to the U.S. And among many other fascinating facts, their leaves contain natural insecticides. (Mark Spreyer column on Sunday Neighbor).

I could go on finding interesting, enlightening facts in every newspaper section every day. But you get the picture. Following the news will lead you to a lot more — and a lot more that is interesting — than just the news.

• Jim Slusher, jslusher@dailyherald.com, is managing editor for opinion at the Daily Herald. Follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jim.slusher1 and on X at @JimSlusher. His new book “Conversations, community and the role of local news” is available at eckhartzpress.com.