'Tempo' employees take different paths

'Tempo' employees take different paths

JAKARTA (JP): When Tempo was banned, the staff were given the
choice of joining Gatra or staying with the non-existent magazine
for an unpredictable future.

Those who remained with the magazine, decided to set up a
company to supply articles to some Jakarta publications. As it
developed, the company divided into several clusters:

1. The Tebet camp, which is now a company operating under the
name PT Reksa Mitra Berjaya (RMB), consists of more than 40 ex-
Tempo journalists who decided not to join Gatra. PT RMB's
activities include publishing the Sunday edition of the Media
Indonesia daily and the Jakarta Stock Exchange's bulletin. Since
most ex-Tempo artists have joined this company, PT RMB is also
cooperating with some Jakarta-based magazines, such as Swa
economic magazine, to handle their cover designs. PT RMB was
previously established to accommodate all ex-Tempo journalists
who didn't want to join Gatra, but some journalists decided to
leave this company to found their own teams or work
independently. Some working for PT RMB work other jobs and on
other teams. Everyone working under PT RMB donates one fourth of
their earnings to the company to help former Tempo staff who need
financial support. Bambang Harimurti, former Tempo chief
correspondent in Washington D.C., U.S, leads the company.

2. GAT Plus or Gabungan anak Tempo plus is one of the teams
founded by those who left PT RMB. GAT Plus previously cooperated
with the daily Sinar Pagi to publish its Sunday edition. However,
the team has ended their cooperation and now is publishing Media
Indonesia's special pages on crimes called Delik, which appears
every Wednesday. Ex-Tempo journalists joining this team include
Ahmed Kurnia, Rudy P. Singgih, Mohamad Cholid, Sri Wahyuni and
Indrawan.

3. Some ex-Tempo senior economic journalists are now engaged by
the Neraca economic daily. They include Isma Sawitri and Max
Wangkar. However, they donate 20 percent of their earnings to the
safety fund of PT RMB to help those in financial need.

4. Some former staff are now managing the documentation center
and library of PT Graffiti Pers, the company which published
Tempo, and was previously managed by the magazine. The library
and documentation center, located on the eighth floor of Gedung
Bukaka, former Tempo office on Jl. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta, is
open to the public. Tempo was known for its strong research and
good library. It also ran the Pusat Data dan Analisa Tempo
(Tempo's data and analysis center). A new separate library will
be also opened in Central Jakarta in August for the general
public. The center is headed by Bambang Bujono.

5. Some former staff joined Forum Keadilan magazine. Among them
are Budi Kesuma, Margana, Putu Setia, Ardianto Gesturi, Bambang
Aji, Sapto and Sri Widodo.

6. Others are now working individually:
- Nunik Iswardani, now working at SCTV
- Yuli Ismartono, SCTV
- Didik Budiarta, working at a production house
- Bina Bektiati, now a Sydney, Australia correspondent for the
Surabaya-based Jawa Pos
- Rustam Mandayu, working for Jawa Pos daily
- Liston P. Siregar, working in the Indonesian section of BBC in
London
- Robin Ong, has his own photography studio
- Toriq Hadad is a now freelance writer. Currently he is writing
a biography about Abdurrahman Wahid or Gus Dur.
- Leila Chudori, who is one of Indonesia's most prominent
writers, is writing film reviews and short stories for a number
of publications.
- Jopie Hidayat, working at the Jakarta Stock Exchange
- Photographer Rini PWI is freelancing and has just returned from
Bosnia
- A lay-out artist has now joined the Ummat Moslem magazine which
will be published next week by Republika daily.
- Some former Tempo secretaries have joined Gatra and some of
them are working either for PT RMB or PT Graffiti Pers. Four
office boys are engaged by PT RMB, two by PT Graffiti Pers and
nine others by Gatra. (als)