Laurie Orton Responds to Rob Simpson
Posted February 17, 2017 at 11:59 am by Tim Dustrude
Laurie Orton, Director of the San Juan Island Library responds to a letter from Rob Simpson…
Dear Editor:
I am writing in response to a recent letter by Rob Simpson concerning the cancellation of the Conscientious Projector series which has periodically been a sponsored program at the San Juan Island Library. His letter conveyed a serious misconception that the Library is trying to censor information. The Library does not censor information and will always support its free dissemination.
The Library’s sponsorship of many types of programs, which entails staff hours and very real monetary costs, is well known, as are its efforts to offer a variety of interesting topics and formats.
The main issue with the Conscientious Projector’s first showing in the Deep Space series shown on January 9th was not the topic presented, but the poor presentation quality. The negative feedback we received from both attendees and staff who were present at the showing was worrisome. The film made some highly unusual claims, without any meaningful evidence to support them. The Library, which has never “endorsed” any of the series’ films, nevertheless expects any documentaries “sponsored” by the Library to reflect high journalistic standards.
The decision to cancel the remaining Deep Space showings was not an act of censorship. The Library exercised its right and obligation to make changes in order to ensure the high quality of its sponsored programs. This is not a new policy.
The Deep Space films may still be seen at the Library if any presenter chooses to reserve the Library’s public meeting room to show them. The showings may be advertised by the presenter. The room is large enough to accommodate the number of people who have historically attended in the Main Salon, and discussion and dialogue would still be available and open to anyone in our community.
Moreover, if anyone would like to see the films at any other time, he or she can view them at https://www.gaia.com/series/deep-space, and are welcome to use library computers to do so.
We appreciate feedback on our programs, and will always strive for excellence in the programs the Library offers to our community.
Sincerely,
Laurie Orton
San Juan Island Library Director
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Categories: Letters
One comment:
One comment...
What is DEEP SPACE? DEEP SPACE is difficult. It is a TV series about questions, not answers. And the questions generated are definitely not springing from mainstream-acceptable information. Posing such questions is a real challenge for us as a society. Brave journalists report their investigations into certain subjects are blocked from publication. In order to break this choke hold on information, our questions must get better …and louder.
I, too, find the questions presented in the series as worrisome. I had never heard of Operation Paperclip, nor Operation High Jump. Does that mean they did not occur? Or… only, that I had yet to be exposed to their existence?
And upon first hearing, would I rather not ponder the implications of such things? Absolutely. It challenges my “world view”.
However, this most recent election cycle and subsequent events are exposing how very much is going on behind many, many closed doors… all the while we are urged by media to focus on arguing with our neighbors about this and that.
Should questions that are derived from scattered bits of information be categorized as unsubstantiated journalism? Or are they challenges to revisit what we were told to be true? (That is a personal decision we make on a daily basis.)
Yes….there’s nothing nice and tidy about the DEEP SPACE series. It is messy. It is attempting to pull together many puzzle pieces we may have dismissed throughout our lives and see if a credible image is revealed. It will take time. We need more puzzle pieces. New ones are appearing every day. In our single evening screening, we barely scratched the surface.
This whole topic is a journey. It cannot be adequately addressed by an evening at the library. I understand why many would not want to EVER go there. In the near future, with all the information coming forward, it may not be an option.
If anyone out there would like to consider the challenge of this messy puzzle, please let me know. I appreciate the library extending a new space where these challenging thoughts may still be analyzed for any truths they may contain. As always, open discussion will be encouraged.
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