... readers, columnists, advertisers miss it<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A gloomy shadow fell over regular readers of
\nTempo weekly as the news magazine with the motto \"easy to read
\nand necessary\" (enak dibaca dan perlu) received the \"death
\npenalty\" from the government last week.<\/p>\n
\"I am going to miss it. So far it has been the only news
\nmagazine worth reading ... I could go without reading the
\nnewspaper for a week and find the whole week's news covered in
\nTempo,\" said lawyer Leoni G.I. Silitonga.<\/p>\n
She is not the only one to miss the 23-year-old weekly.<\/p>\n
M.A. Tamimi, a retired businessman who subscribed to Tempo on
\na regular basis described the magazine as \"rational and unafraid
\nto say what it wanted to say.\" Other magazines are \"not as
\ninteresting because they are full of sensational news.\"<\/p>\n
Not all Tempo readers agree to this, however.<\/p>\n
Serrano Sianturi, a director of a marketing consultant firm,
\nadmitted that, although he will greatly miss Tempo, \"it won't be
\nas if I lost a girlfriend,\" he said, admitting that for certain
\nkinds of news, he relies more on foreign newspapers.<\/p>\n
\"I don't think Tempo is very daring, but maybe that is because
\nit is never speculative,\" said Serrano, who completed his
\nmaster's degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
\nU.S.<\/p>\n
Although many readers tend to judge Tempo from its editorial
\ncontent, many see it from the point of view of its readers'
\nsocial class.<\/p>\n
\"Tempo is in a class of its own ... Its unique language and
\nquality allows it to reach a very specific market segment. I will
\ncertainly miss it because reading it has long been a habit,\" said
\nPublic Relations Director of the Shangri-La Hotel, Riza A. Suryo.<\/p>\n
Apart from articles and features by its nationally disbursed
\nreporters and international correspondents in Bangkok, Tokyo,
\nKuala Lumpur, Washington D.C., Vancouver and Paris, Tempo's
\ncontributors include nationally and internationally recognized
\nscholars.<\/p>\n
Among them is Franz Magnis-Suseno of the Driyarkara School of
\nPhilosophy, who pointed out that he is not concerned that he will
\nnow be unable to express his ideas through the magazine.<\/p>\n
\"That is not the major problem. The question is: what can we
\nnow expect from the press? We do not know what we are allowed to
\nwrite now,\" he said, adding that the government's actions caused
\n\"a very pitiful setback.\"<\/p>\n
Tempo's major readers include the Indonesian-speaking
\nexpatriate community as well as international news agencies,
\npapers and magazines with their correspondents here.<\/p>\n
Paul Jacob, the Singapore Straits Times's correspondent in
\nJakarta said that although he will not be at a loss due to the
\nban, \"since the magazines were, after all, weeklies and not
\ndailies\", Tempo -- as well as DeTik and Editor, which also lost
\ntheir publishing licenses -- had actually been very effective
\nsources of news for elaboration, detail and analysis.<\/p>\n
\"This is what I will miss. But they are not the only sources,
\nbecause we check more than one source,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Jacob admitted that there are no weeklies as yet that have
\nbeen as effective.<\/p>\n
\"At least Forum Keadilan is still around,\" he said, referring
\nto a considerably vocal magazine.<\/p>\n
Advertisers may also have lost one of their most effective
\nmediums.<\/p>\n
Tempo has been one of the top magazines in terms of
\nadvertising billings. Between 1982 and 1986, it notched as much
\nas a fifth of all magazine advertising billings. During that five
\nyears, it collected Rp 102.5 billion (US$48 million).<\/p>\n
\"The ban is very tragic because it concerns the welfare of the
\nadvertising world as a whole,\" said General Secretary of the
\nAssociation of Indonesian Advertising Companies, Juzar Junin.<\/p>\n
Tempo was not \"just another place to advertise.\" Among the
\nprinted media, and especially the weeklies, it was the major
\nadvertising spot, Juzar said.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged Tempo as having a professional attitude
\ntowards members of the association.<\/p>\n
\"Tempo is mature in carrying out partnerships,\" he said,
\nadding that so far, he has not seen a competitor even come close
\nto Tempo.<\/p>\n
\"Maybe I don't intend to look for another magazine yet,
\nbecause -- maybe unconsciously -- I am hoping Tempo will return,\"
\nhe said. (pwn)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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