expunged
Hi friend, how are you? Thanks for opening! This week, I’m reading a book about burned libraries! How exciting–no, really! You have been warned, hehe. A bit of history, a bit of despair, etc. in today’s dispatch. Hope you find it, or at least some parts of it, useful! -K
The fact of the matter is that I wasn’t supposed to read about burned libraries at all.
But this week, a former boss sent out this statement deploring the Inquirer’s management for entering a compromise agreement and settling a libel case filed by a radio anchor in connection with the paper’s 2014 investigative series on the P10-billion pork barrel scam.
FULL TEXT: The paper’s apology to the radio anchor as published online
The management-backed compromise deal involved, among others, the front-page publication of this apology, P1.5 million worth of ad space and expunging at least 10 stories from the series from Inquirer.net and the PDI Archives.
Here’s the technical definition of “expunge” from Merriam-Webster:
Archives be like:
Teddie Bobbie GIF - Teddie Bobbie Alex - Discover & Share GIFs
Click to view the GIF
Necessary caveat here is that I am helplessly attached to the Inquirer Library. I practically grew up there. On particularly difficult assignments, I could spend days just going through bound volume after bound volume, especially if these involved events that happened pre-internet or searchable archives (pre-1995, if I remember correctly). In any case, one thing we constantly upheld was the fact that the archives were sacred. This is why it’s called newspaper of record–if it’s published, it’s published. That’s the burden of print, and it is this heavy responsibility that holds an entire newsroom of reporters and editors accountable to the truth. To correct errors, the paper publishes a regular correction box containing items that needed correcting–typos, factual errors, etc. Bigger errors are given bigger space in the Opinion section, usually as Letters to the Editor.
Here’s Sir Joey’s discussion on ANC. He mentions taking tips on archive maintenance from the New York Times, whose archives date back to 1851, and whose stories penned by controversial reporter Jayson Blair still remain in their archives–with the necessary notes.
Now that we have that out of the way, we can now talk about
Burned libraries
I can’t help but draw a parallel between this looming destruction of the aforementioned parts of the award-winning investigative report to the burning of a portion of a library I love.
Perhaps the first thing we remember whenever we hear about burnt libraries is the Library of Alexandria, said to be the “greatest library ever assembled.” The idea of a single place holding all of the world’s knowledge may very well be a myth–scholars say we know very little of it, apart from the fact that it existed and was subsequently razed to the ground–but its disappearance has been a long-standing symbol of what we lose when places where we store knowledge are destroyed.
“It may be that the ‘legend’ of Alexandria has as much to do with the accessibility of the knowledge it contained as the size of the collection,” says Richard Ovenden, director of the Bodleian Libraries at Oxford, in his book, Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge (available on Kindle). “In some ways the destruction of the library has become as important, if not more, to its legacy as its existence.”
Scholars disagree on why exactly the Library was burned, moreso who ordered it, but they all agree on one thing: “They mourn the library as a victim of barbarity triumphing over knowledge.”
Edward Gibbon, whose “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” contains perhaps the most vivid account of the destruction of the Library of Alexandria, says this was “due to a long and gradual process of neglect and growing ignorance… The fires (whether accidental or delibreate) were major incidents in which many books were lost, but the institution of the library disappeared more gradually through organizational neglect.”
Ovenden agrees: “A lack of oversight, leadership and investment spread over centuries seems to have been the ultimate cause of the destruction of the Library of Alexandria. Rather than highlighting the cataclysmic nature of barbaric ignorance triumphing over civilized truth, Alexandria is a cautionary tale of the danger of creeping decline, through the underfunding, low prioritization and general disregard for the institutions that preserve and share knowledge.“
But more than its destruction and the metaphor it has spawned, perhaps the bigger contribution of Alexandria is something practically indestructible: “What was created at Alexandria was what could not be destroyed in the fire and the long process of neglect: an approach to learning that we now call scholarship… What survives is more of an ethos–the ethos that knowledge holds great power, that the pursuit of gathering and preserving it is a valuable task, and that its loss can be an early warning sign of a decaying civilization.“
To go back to JDN’s statement: It bears noting that all media outfits are under extreme pressure, especially under this administration. All the more, journalists are tasked to do what is right.
This compromise certainly does not exist in a vacuum, and the message that the gesture sends out is chilling–if it can be done to such a big banner story–indeed, The Stories of those days, what protection is left to smaller stories featuring smaller voices?
Recs from the Internet
Anyway, sorry for the grave tone. Onto a few lighter things!
- 16 Things to Remember at College via The Atlantic. I can’t believe it’s been 21 years since I took my college entrance exams!!! Anyway, if you know of people who are sending their kids to college, this might be a good share. The number 1 tip: Always drink two drinks fewer than you intend to is something I would definitely endorse! It sounds a lot like my dad’s own advice to me way back when: Always leave room for retreat. Don’t get yourself backed into a corner. Huwag dapat sagad.
- Guys our Olympians are AMAZING. Out-and-proud boxing silver medalist Nesthy Petecio dedicated her win to the LGBTQ community, while Olympic skateboarder and all-around cool dude Margielyn Didal is such a charmer. (Check out this Olympic documentary).
- With boxers Carlo Paalam and Eumir Marcial also securing their silver and bronze medals, respectively, this week, this four-medal haul is the best yet for the Philippines.
- I believe Caloy Yulo deserves a separate bullet point because he nailed this run at the vault. Just xx decimals shy of a podium finish! So close!
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Caloy finished 4th place 14.716
- I never understood pole vaulting until I watched EJ Obiena at the finals. He was mesmerizing. What an effin difficult sport!
ANYWAY this week’s favorite meme is a depiction of me during ECQ Season 3
Everything I love costs money
Keep healthy, stay safe, and I am praying for your vaccine schedules!
XO,
K