The Ateneo Hearter is honored to have had the privilege to interview Dominic Craig Carpio, an SHS-AdC alumnus and the publication’s previous and first-ever governor, exploring the publication’s humble history, core values, and enduring purpose for serving the truth.
The Publication’s Roots
Last school year, The Ateneo Hearter was founded because Dominic and his fellow like-minded journalists wanted to successfully intersect their ideas of an institution that could benefit both the SHS-AdC community and student journalists — helping them hone their abilities and talents. He cited how, before The Ateneo Hearter, there had been a lack of an institution where student journalists could partake in and that the school community could reliably look up to.
“It is in the name — by being named ‘The Ateneo Hearter’ the publication says to student journalists that ‘this is you and who your service is for’ and to readers ‘this is us and this is our story.’”
To give a place and time, the foundation of The Ateneo Hearter was built in the SAFAD Theater of the University of San Carlos-Talamban Campus. Dominic, alongside the founding members of the publication, was attending a local journalism symposium, Lahug, organized by Warrior’s Scribe — the university’s senior high publication.
“Seeing the dynamism of student journalism as a field in other schools, we were troubled by the many deficiencies present in the press organization [of SHS-AdC’s Senior High School Department] at the time. It was inside that theater where an unspoken manifesto to reform the organization was formally set into motion,” Dominic stated.
Giving the reformed publication a name, The Ateneo Hearter, Dominic and his fellow founding members drafted a logo and built up The Ateneo Hearter’s basic principles over the summer. He later furnished the publication’s official constitution during his internship at Harvard University in Massachusetts, United States.
Transitioning from Molave News
The most difficult decision that Dominic and the founding members had to face was entirely doing away with the publication’s old identity, Molave News. While they had a strong desire to move forward, the decision to rebrand and let go of the publication’s former identity to transition into its new one was far from easy.
Molave News was a student-led initiative, rooted in principles of truth and service to the school community, just like The Ateneo Hearter. However, Molave News faced challenges in communicating its identity and values to the students — some of whom were even unaware of its existence. While the publication was one that many students were proud of, a complete reform meant that it could better communicate its ideals to the entire student body and, thus, better serve the community it had been built for.
Molave News’ complete reformation into The Ateneo Hearter meant completely changing the mode of communication of its values and identity. This necessary step of action was taken with the purpose of the publication and its journalists in mind. Naturally, this was met with controversy, as it completely rejected everything that preceded it. However, Dominic and his founding members continued to wish for a new era of student initiative that would enrich — not replace — what came before it and bring it to a fuller realization.
What’s Next?
Truly, The Ateneo Hearter has gone a long way since its inception. From its ideation in the SAFAD Theater, to its steadfast operations in the present, and on the new paths it will take in the future, Dominic truly hopes that the publication to uphold the purpose and values upon which it had been originally founded: to serve students, student journalists, and the truth unafraid.
Written by Katriel Santiago
