Talk show halted in midbroadcast

Talk show halted in midbroadcast

JAKARTA (JP): A political talk show on private TV station
Indosiar abruptly went off the air in midbroadcast last night,
with the station later blaming the interruption on "technical"
problems.

Jointly hosted by social commentator Wimar Witoelar and
economist Sjahrir, Dialog Aktual's topic was the government's
plan to regulate freedom of expression.

The show, scheduled from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., went off the air
after 15 minutes. It was replaced by a prerecorded musical
program.

No immediate explanation was forthcoming from IndoSiar, but it
later announced that "due to a technical error" it was unable to
continue the show.

The show's guests included constitutional expert Dimyati
Hartono, political scientist of the National Institute of
Sciences Indria Samego and economist Chatib Basri.

Wimar said in the program's opening that he had invited
Minister of Justice Muladi to take part but he turned down the
offer.

The hosts and their guests proceeded to denounce the
government's plan before the show was suddenly interrupted.

Contacted by The Jakarta Post late last night, a person
identifying himself as a member of the station's programming
department also attributed the disruption to "merely a technical
matter", but referred further inquiries to the public relations
department today. (emb/aan)