In today’s Maine Sunday Telegram, I report on the apparent loss of a huge number of Maine state government emails and digital documents from the administrations of Govs. Angus King and John Baldacci. The losses, which leave holes in the state’s historical memory and violate a variety of statutes, are apparently due to ad hoc actions by past information technology officials attempting to free up scarce server space.
Details can be found in the story. A number of issues remain blurry, including the exact disposition of emails created by state officials between 2008 and 2016, and what proportion of pre-2008 emails and digital documents survive only on back-up storage tapes (as opposed to accessible, searchable servers.) If you have firsthand knowledge, drop me an email.
COLIN WOODARD is a New York Times bestselling author, historian and award-winning journalist. He is the author of seven books that have been translated into a dozen foreign languages and inspired an NBC television drama. He is currently Director of Nationhood Lab at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Affairs at Salve Regina University. As State and National Affairs Writer at Maine's Portland Press Herald, he won a 2012 George Polk Award and was a finalist for a 2016 Pulitzer Prize. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, The Economist, Smithsonian and dozens of other major publications.