Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc

Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc (2011)

Leticia "Letty" Jimenez-Magsanoc (born September 13, 1941 in Manila ; †  December 24, 2015 in Taguig City ) was a Filipino journalist and editor , best known for her role in the overthrow of the Marcos regime . From 1991 until her death in December 2015, she was editor-in-chief of the Philippine Daily Inquirer , which she claims to be the most widely read newspaper in the Philippines . She was often only called LJM by colleagues and employees.

Life

Leticia Jimenez was born in Manila on September 13, 1941, the first of nine children of Colonel Nicanor Jimenez and his wife Maria Clara. Her father was a former manager of the Philippine National Railways and director of the NISA (National Intelligence and Security Authority), the Philippine intelligence service at the time, and later the ambassador of the Philippines to South Korea .

Letty Jimenez spent most of the 1960s in the United States, where she received a Masters Degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri . In 1963 she married the doctor Dr. Carlos Magsanoc. The marriage resulted in three children, the daughter Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala, who also works as a journalist today, and the two sons Dr. Nikko Magsanoc and Dr. Marti Magsanoc.

Professional career

After returning to the Philippines in 1969, Jimenez-Magsanoc worked for the Manila Bulletin , initially as an editor for the women's section of Panorama , the Sunday magazine of the bulletin. From 1976 she began writing for the daily Manila Bulletin. There she initially wrote a column three times a week alternating with Tony Nieva, and later she received her own column. In 1978 she was offered the post of senior editor of Panorama magazine. With Magsanoc's takeover of this post, the magazine's popularity increased and a short time later, with a Sunday circulation of 300,000, it was three times the combined circulation of two competing papers.

In 1981, five months after being awarded the Outstanding Women in Service to the Nation, Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc was forced to resign after writing an article Marcos considered blasphemous and critical of the government. The forced resignation sparked a storm of protest in the media, with some journalists using their columns to take up the issue but being withheld in part by the editors. A number of critical articles, the publication of which had been rejected by other newspapers, appeared in the women's magazine Mr. & Ms. under editor Eugenia Apostol , who, like numerous other editors, editors and columnists, was interrogated by the military and was under observation.

Two articles written by Jimenez-Magsanoc for Panorama magazine were banned. In the Panorama issue of October 12, 1980, the Sunday column with the title “The Lady of Maynila” disappeared. Several thousand copies of the edition were distributed, in which the page was simply missing. In another edition of the same issue, letters to the editor were printed instead of the column. And the Sunday column of July 19, 1981 with the title "Survival: Variations on the Human Condition" was stopped by the publisher Hans Menzi because of ironic comments on the economic situation in the country at the time.

In 1983, Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc was offered by Eugenia Apostol to head the editorial team of the weekly Mr. & Ms. Special Edition, founded in response to the assassination of opposition leader Benigno Aquino . The daily newspapers of the time were so intimidated by the Marcos regime that the murder of Aquino and the subsequent funeral were hardly mentioned in the reporting. Eugenia Apostol wanted to counter this with the newly founded magazine. The first issue with the murdered Aquino on the front page sold 750,000 copies and in the following period a circulation of between 300,000 and 400,000 copies was established. The focus of the reporting was initially on the murder of Aquino and its aftermath, and human rights violations in the country were denounced. Due to the government critical reporting, the editorial team worked undercover in an empty building near the regular Mr. & Ms. offices, disguised as the "LJM Garment Factory" ("LJM clothing factory", where LJM were the initials of Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc).

In December 1985, towards the end of the military dictatorship under Ferdinand Marcos, Eugenia Apostol founded the Philippine Daily Inquirer , a daily newspaper, together with Max Soliven and Betty Go-Belmonte , in which the weekly Mr. & Ms. Special Edition finally appeared . After Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc had headed the editorial team of Mr. & Ms. Special Edition until its dissolution in 1986, she worked from then on for the newly founded Philippine Daily Inquirer , in 1986 and 1987 initially as chief editor for the Sunday Inquirer Magazine .

On June 14, 1991, around five years after the end of the Marcos regime, Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc became editor-in-chief of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, making it the first woman and longest-standing editor-in-chief to this post.

Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc intended to retire and retire from her post as editor-in-chief after 25 years in office after the presidential election in May 2016, but passed away unexpectedly in December 2015.

Awards

• 1981: Outstanding Women in the service of the nation ( "The Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service", TOWNS Foundation)
• 1993: University of Missouri Medal of Honor for Outstanding Work in Journalism
• 2006: Asia's heroes of the past 60 years , an award from American Time magazine
• 2015: Journalist of the Year , 19th Journalism Award from the Rotary Club of Manila
• 2016: Filipino of the Year 2015 , an annual title from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the newspaper that she was editor of for almost 25 years. The title was awarded to her posthumously about a month after her death.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Leonor J. Aureus (1985). Leonor J. Aureus, ed. The Philippine Press Under Siege Volume II. The National Press Club Committee to Protect Writers. P. 116 (English)
2. ^ Leonor J. Aureus (1985). Leonor J. Aureus, ed. The Philippine Press Under Siege Volume II. The National Press Club Committee to Protect Writers. P. 117 (English)
3. ^ Leonor J. Aureus (1985). Leonor J. Aureus, ed. The Philippine Press Under Siege Volume II. The National Press Club Committee to Protect Writers. P. 114 (English)
4. ↑ Lopez, Salvador P. (July 28, 1981). "The Silencing of Letty Magsanoc". Mr & Ms. (English)
5. ^ Aureus, Leonor J (May 10, 1983). "Why is Tony Nieva in Jail?". Mr & Ms. (English)
6. ↑ Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc (1985). Leonor J. Aureaus, ed. Philippine Press Under Siege, Vol II. National Press Club Committee to Protect Writers. P. 61 (English)
7. ↑ Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc (1985). Leonor J. Aureaus, ed. Philippine Press Under Siege, Vol II. National Press Club Committee to Protect Writers. P. 72 (English)
8. ↑ Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism: Apostol , accessed March 20, 2017
9. ↑ goodreads.com: Farewell to Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc, who wanted to change the future (English), accessed on March 20, 2017
10. ↑ ^{a b} Page One: Philippine Daily Inquirer Front Pages (1985-1995). Makati City, Philippines: Philippine Daily Inquirer. 1998. p. 8. ISBN 971-8935-01-0 (English)
11. ↑ inquirer.net: Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc, the last interview (English), accessed on March 20, 2017
12. ↑ inquirer.net: Nolasco appointed new editor-in-chief of the PDI (English), accessed on March 20, 2017
13. ↑ inquirer.net: Magsanoc era ended after 24 years at the helm of the Inquirer , accessed on March 20, 2017
14. ^ Coronel, Sheila (November 2006). "Inspirations: Eugenia Apostol and Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc". Time International.
15. ↑ philstar.com: 19th Journalism Award of the Rotary Club Manila ( Memento of the original from December 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed March 20, 2017 
16. ↑ inquirer.net: Letty Jimenez Magsanoc: Always keep your faith in your country (English), accessed on March 25, 2017