Former governor, CEO get journalism award

Former governor, CEO get journalism award

A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) conferred on
Thursday the Pena Mas award on former Jakarta Governor Ali
Sadikin, the chief executive officer of giant noodle producer PT
Indofood Sukses, Makmur Eva Riyanti Hutapea, and the late
television journalist Sory Ersa Siregar.

PWI chairman Tarman Azzam said that the association's highest
award was given to those who contributed to the development of
the national press.

"The award is also a prestigious honor for the recipient,"
Tarman said when presenting the awards here on Thursday.

He said Ali had been recognized for his close relations with
journalists, including his role in providing an office for the
PWI's Jakarta chapter.

Eva, on the other hand, was honored because of her admission
that journalists had helped turnaround Indofood from suffering a
loss in 1997 during the economic crisis to making a profit the
following year.

"Meanwhile, Ersa must be honored because of his commitment to
his journalistic work until he was killed while being held
hostage by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) last year," Tarman said.

Ali said that besides providing an office for the PWI's
Jakarta chapter, he had also provided many other benefits for
journalists, such as housing complexes for journalists in Cempaka
Putih, Central Jakarta, and Kebon Nanas in East Jakarta, as well
as free tickets to Ancol Dreamland and massage parlors. He did
not say, however, whether the provision of these benefits could
be considered as attempts to influence the journalists concerned,
as they would be in most countries around the world.

However, Ali regretted the PWI's stance regarding the ongoing
legal disputes between Tempo magazine and Koran Tempo daily on
the one hand, and businessman Tomy Winata on the other.

"Why have you paid so little attention to these Tempo cases.
We all know who Tomy Winata is," Ali said

The South Jakarta District Court ordered Koran Tempo to pay
damages of US$1 million to Tomy for defamation.

In addition, three Tempo journalists, including its chief
editor, Bambang Harimurti, are being tried by the Central Jakarta
District Court on charges of defaming the businessman.

Meanwhile, Eva said that she had at first been wary of
journalists following allegations of poisoning leveled against
her company by the Sriwijaya Post in Palembang, South Sumatra,
six years ago.

"But with the help of senior journalists Sofjan Lubis and
August Parengkuan, as well as meetings with the Sriwijaya Post'
management, we managed to solve the problem. Since then, I've
always listened to what journalists have to say," Eva said.

The Pena Mas award is designed to honor people, especially
journalists, who have contributed their lives to the development
of the profession. The first award was given in 1976 to former
PWI chairman Soemanang.

In keeping with the New Order spirit of sycophancy, the award
was later mostly conferred on government officials. Maj. Gen.
(ret) Harsono, the former secretary-general of the now defunct
Ministry of Information, and 20 governors received the award in
the following years.

Since 1976, only four journalists have actually been conferred
with the award, namely Soemanang, another former PWI chairman,
Rosihan Anwar, the late Muhammad "Udin" Syafruddin and the late
Ersa.