JOURNALISM, as it is practiced today, has little to do with its humble and well-intentioned origins. For all matters, the first Filipino newspaper was the Del Superior Gobierno or “from the higher government” (1811 to 1812), which published, as far as we know, only 14 issues. It was printed in Sampaloc in Manila, and I was recently told by my friend R. Trota José, archivist of the Archivo de la Universidad de Santo Tomás, that they found the first issue of the said publication. To my surprise, the pages contained little information about the Philippines — it was mostly new regulations and decrees — and the news dealt with the many events that were occurring at that time in Europe, where Napoleon was very busy changing the borders of many nations, and in America, where Spain was on the verge of losing its overseas provinces.