Press Day organizers cut budget
JAKARTA (JP): The current monetary crisis has prompted National Press Day organizers to scrap some planned activities, saving up to Rp 400 million (US$40,000) from the previously projected budget of Rp 500 million.
Chief organizer Sofjan Lubis told a press briefing yesterday there won't be any press exhibition at the event which will be held on Feb. 9 in Palembang, the capital of South Sumatra. In the previous annual celebrations, there were usually exhibitions joined by major publications and the media.
President Soeharto will also lead the commemoration from his office here rather than in Palembang as previously planned, Sofjan said.
"It's simply because of the President's tight schedule," Sofjan said when asked if poor health was behind Soeharto's decision not to inaugurate the day in Palembang.
"We hope this year's commemoration will foster the mass media's solidarity in facing the crisis," said Sofjan, who is also the chairman of the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI).
The theme for this year's National Press Day is Multimedia Development for Fostering National Unity and Integrity.
"This year's commemoration will be the first to see the participation of privately owned television stations and radio stations, which have now become members of the country's press family," Sofjan said.
Among the activities to be conducted this year are a marching contest, charity programs such as free operations for children with a cleft palate, and circumcision for poor children.
Some programs will be moved from Palembang to Jakarta. They include seminars and workshops, and a senior-junior journalists get-together, said Sofjan. (aan)