100 employees quit 'Gatra' to establish a new weekly

JAKARTA (JP): One hundred employees, among them reporters, of the Gatra weekly magazine have resigned, citing management intervention in editorial policies, editors said Wednesday.

The exodus followed last month's dismissal of the magazine's directors and chief editors by the publisher, PT Era Media Informasi, which is controlled by tycoon Mohammad (Bob) Hasan.

"Working conditions at Gatra are no longer conducive to creativity and press freedom," managing editor Agus Basri said.

He had told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that he and his colleagues were ready to start a new publication.

"We have all the infrastructure and management to run a new magazine," he had said, saying more of the weekly's 200 employees might join them.

He said that they were also ready with names for the new magazine, citing TEGAR (an acronym for Tempo Gatra Reformasi), GATRA Reformasi, or GAMMA.

Agus said Wednesday the new magazine may publish next month.

The editors said one of their reasons was last month's dismissal of the chief editor -- Herry Komar -- and directors Lukman Setiawan, Haryoko Trisnadi and Mahtum Mastoem.

Herry had said the dismissal was announced in the shareholders' meeting of Nov. 20 through Budiono Kartohadiprodjo, the publisher's director. Bob Hasan has 55 percent of shares in the weekly, according to the management.

Gatra was established in October 1994 immediately after the government revoked the publishing license of Tempo in June 1994 over its editorial content. Some of the journalists from the then defunct Tempo joined Gatra, while others were spread across several publications.

Tempo resumed publication in October this year.

Meanwhile the agency quoted Budiono as saying he was doubtful that 100 employees had left the magazine.

"The number still has to be checked; maybe some signed up for a cooperative meeting and the signatures could have been manipulated," he said.

Chief editor and general manager Widi Yarmanto denied charges of management intervention in editorial policy, saying Hasan had only visited the office three times in four years, and "had never called to request that a certain item be published or not."

Widi said, "He had only phoned when there was a published item about himself, and had felt Gatra had not requested confirmation from him."

Editor Bersihar Lubis had said they disagreed with Hasan, who had "reprimanded" the magazine's executives for certain stories.

Among others the weekly reported on Hasan's loan scam in his Bank Umum Nasional in a September edition.

Director Budiono said he respected the employees' decision to quit. "What's important is that Gatra continues to do its job well," he said.

In response to complaints among employees that Hasan refused to sell his shares, Budiono was quoted by the agency as saying this was not true.

"The shares can be sold as long as they fall in the hands of employees, not third parties." (imn)