Being a newspaper editor makes you a fierce defender of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, especially the Freedom of Speech part. It’s in the job description.

However, Freedom of Speech does not cover inaccurate information. Also in our job description is a charge to challenge those who spread information that has been disproved, in this case not once but several times.

This brings us to two letters the I-R recently received from readers who take a dim view of anyone on the other side of the political spectrum. That’s fine. It’s also part of the beauty of America — we don’t all have to agree.

But it would be nice if we could operate from the same set of basic facts.

Here is an example of what we’re talking about from a recent letter:

“Make no mistake, CV19 is dangerous, but not more so than the flu.”

Please tell that to the friends and families of the more than 170,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19 in only a few months. And we still don’t know the longterm effects of the illness.

There’s also a lot of hand wringing about the wearing of masks. It’s understandable people are confused.

A couple of weeks ago, Kansas health officer Lee Norman showcased a chart that he said illustrated the benefits of wearing masks, that counties with mask orders fared better than those that rejected Gov. Laura Kelly’s July 3 statewide mask mandate.

His chart was immediately labeled “misinformation” because the lines for mask and non-mask counties followed separate vertical axes.

From this weekend’s Wichita Eagle: “But despite the confusion, an analysis of Kansas COVID-19 cases by the Kansas City Star and the Wichita Eagle broadly confirms Norman’s data. It shows an overall downward trend line last month in 16 counties with a mask order early on while 89 counties without one trended up.”

In short, masks work. Maybe not all the time, but what do you know that offers a 100 percent guarantee? We started writing this editorial after the Norman news conference and postponed it when the health officer was challenged. We did not want to spread “misinformation.”

We were in the process of looking into his numbers when the Eagle published its story. The Eagle is a reputable news source. So is the Kansas City Star.

Newspapers — the I-R included — make mistakes, but we admit them and try to make things right. We also believe in doing our homework.

As late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts.”

That’s a code most of us work hard to live by. We expect no less of our readers.