'Surabaya Post' calls it a day, prompts rally against owner

Ainur R. Sophiaan, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

The nation's prolonged economic crisis has claimed a new victim in the publishing industry amid the freedom of expression the national media has been enjoying for the past four years.

The Surabaya Post evening daily based in Surabaya, East Java, sadly announced on Tuesday that it would temporarily cease publication due to financial problems blamed on the company's mismanagement.

The closure, starting on Wednesday, quickly prompted the newspaper's 240 workers to stage a protest at the East Java provincial legislative council.

The announcement was carried in the newspaper's last edition on Tuesday that coincided with its 49th anniversary on April 1.

"Dear readers and advertisers, from Wednesday, May 1, 2002, our daily, Surabaya Post, will no longer appear as a result of the absence of newsprint and other printing materials," read the announcement published on the newspaper's front page.

The protesting workers, comprising editorial, circulation, advertisement and printing staff, slammed the newspaper's president director, Indrajaya Aziz, over the closure.

Carrying posters, they accused the management of ignoring the workers' interests before making the decision.

"Surabaya Post is on holidays," a poster read. "Pak Indra, where is your responsibility?" another poster said.

Saiful Irwan, one of the newspaper's editors who leads the company's labor union, said: "Pak Indra has no goodwill. We are all left without a clear future".

He said the management was scheduled to hold an extraordinary shareholders' meeting on Monday, but it was canceled because the president director failed to show up.

The company's financial condition was so poor that it had run out of newsprint and other printing materials by Tuesday.

The Surabaya Post was established on April 1, 1953 by senior journalist, the late R. Abdul Aziz. It reached the pinnacle of its success in 1980-1981 with a more than 80,000 circulation.

Ahead of its closure, the newspaper's circulation was only about 5,000 copies.