Swan song of `Tempo' the pioneer ...

By Prapti Widinugraheni

JAKARTA (JP): The entry for Tempo in the 1991 edition of Ensiklopedi Nasional Indonesia describes it as "the largest- circulating magazine in the history of the Indonesian press."

Although its circulation of 200,000 was since surpassed by the tabloid DeTIK, Tempo was one of the rare success stories of the Indonesian press, both financially and editorially.

The magazine's inaugural March 6, 1971 edition sold 10,000 copies. Three years later the number had doubled and at the beginning of the 1990's reached more than 150,000.

The magazine also expanded from 50 pages at its inception to more than 110 pages at the time it's publishing license was canceled last week.

In 1977 Tempo acquired its own printing company, PT Temprint, and in 1986 moved into its own office building located in the posh business district of Kuningan, South Jakarta. The building has since been sold for a profit although the magazine continues to occupy two floors.

Unique are its journalistic guidelines, written in the introduction of the magazine's debut issue:

"The basis of our journalism ... is not political, which is one-sided. We believe that benevolence, as well as malevolence, is not the monopoly of one side. We believe the job of the press is not to spread presumptions, but instead to halt them, not to scatter the seeds of hate but to communicate understanding."

Tempo achieved international recognition when the Asian Wall Street Journal, in its May 25, 1977 edition, ran a profile of the magazine, describing it as a "feisty, good-humored Indonesian language weekly with a nose for news."

It praised the then six-year-old weekly for being "special" in providing consistent and detailed coverage of the scandal at Indonesia's troubled Pertamina oil company -- a move considered almost impossible due to government restraints at that time.

"What they report is usually common knowledge in high government circles, but they're usually the first to get it into print," said Mohammad Sadli, who was Minister of Mines at the time, as quoted by AWSJ.

Tempo's first chief editor was journalist and man-of-letters Goenawan Mohamad, who only recently passed the torch to vice editor and long-time peer, Fikri Jufri.

Being a product of a journalist and man of letters, Tempo possessed a unique style of language.

Some considered Tempo's style "new wave" because it was both "humorous and sweet" -- a style then unfamiliar to the Indonesian press, but adopted by many, if not all, media afterwards.

Tempo was the first magazine to adopt the style of group reporting, focusing on one issue each week and turning it into its cover story.

The magazine also provided a forum for some of the country's leading art and cultural figures, especially those on the rise.

The list is endless, but includes Jim Supangkat (sculptor and painter), Leila Chudori (short story writer), Salim Said (movie and art critic and chair of the Jakarta Art Council), Noorca and Yudistira Masardi (writers), the late Bastari Asnin (short story writer), Bur Raswanto (writer), Budiman S. Hartoyo (writer), A. Dahana (sinologist) and the late Slamet Djabarudi (linguist).

The magazine was also the first press publication company to hand over shares to its employees and journalists, long before the practice was mandated by the 1982 Press Law.

Tempo even went one step further, with 60 percent of its equity retained by employers, including the original founding members, therefore maintaining complete editorial control. The other 40 percent equity is held by Jayaraya, a foundation jointly owned by the Jakarta municipality and a private company.

In recent years however, the magazine became somewhat complacent, allowing other magazines, copying some of Tempo's concepts, to slowly catch up with it.

Tempo's successful 23-year run was not without its share of problems.

Only two years into its existence, Tempo found a powerful enemy when America's Time magazine took it to court for copying its cover design. Time dropped the suit the following year and the two magazines have been on friendly terms ever since.

The magazine was shaken by the mass exodus of dozens of its senior journalists and staff who left to establish Editor magazine in 1986.

Goenawan and Fikri were forced to reorganize with the remaining editorial staff and at the same time face the competition posed by Editor.

Tempo came through it all unscathed, proving that the magazine was firmly established and not entirely dependent on the personalities of its editorial members.

In 1987, President Soeharto's half brother and businessman Probosutedjo threatened to sue the magazine for Rp 10 billion, alleging slander and demanding the magazine issue a public apology.

Tempo held its ground and later came to an amicable agreement with the businessman.

In 1982, it was one of several press publications closed down by the government for reporting on the controversies surrounding the election campaign.

It was allowed to return to the streets two months later, after making numerous pledges to the government, which, according to government officials, Tempo had consistently failed to honor.

When the magazine was banned last week, the government said Tempo had been warned no less than 33 times since 1982 for overstepping its limits and neglecting those pledges.