Tempo moves to next level with English version

Tempo moves to next level with English version

Amid tight competition, Tempo magazine launched an English-
language version on Sept. 12. With 10,000 copies priced at Rp
15,300, it also targets foreign and Indonesian readers overseas.
Among its founders are Tempo chief editor Bambang Harymurti, a
graduate of the Bandung Institute of Technology, majoring in
electric engineering, who holds a masters degree in public policy
from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in
the United States. The former executive editor of Media Indonesia
talked recently to The Jakarta Post about the new magazine.

Question: What was the idea behind Tempo's English version?

Answer: We have no choice but to move forward. We can't just
sit around as the press environment here is already too packed
with Indonesian publications.

If we stay stagnant, we'll eventually perish.

We cannot lock away globalization or avoid it. It's coming
anyway and we have to be ready. At first, we felt a bit worried,
because Tempo has a certain language style and we do not want to
lose it once it is presented in English.

But we have to give it our best shot ...

(Former chief editor) Goenawan Mohammad is among those most
concerned about this. He has a very high language sensitivity.

Therefore, we carefully picked a translator to be the
literature expert for Sidelines (Goenawan's special column in
Tempo).

We also thought that there weren't any Indonesian magazines
which had penetrated the foreign market.

In these times, the best defense is offense. And here we go.

Is there any special goal in publishing the English version?

Beyond creativity and business calculations, we want to convey
an Indonesian perspective to English-speaking readers, not only
in Asia and Australia but also in Europe and the United States.

For instance, there are thousands of Indonesian students
abroad, such as in United States or Europe, who want and need
information about their country, especially since the country is
experiencing a social, political and economic upheaval.

It is important for the English readers' society to understand
what's going on in this country through our view.

Why? Because it is a fact that not many people in Asia know
Indonesia well enough to understand the culture, characteristics
as well as Indonesian views on social and political affairs.
(These issues include) who our President is, why he is sometimes
so controversial ... or reports on the widespread unrest or the
bombings.

Indonesia's unstable condition has led to unintended
consequences, one of which is the world's curiosity about our
country, and this magazine tries to fulfill it by presenting
objective reports through local content.

The English version is 75 percent local issues and the rest is
adjusted to articles that suit readers' interests. In the long
run, we hope that Tempo can be a reference for decision makers,
at least in Asia, as they will understand Indonesia better then.

How much profit is expected?

We expect to gain about 5 percent on our average annual profit
of Rp 5 billion. Based on a survey, 90 percent of our readers are
between 25 to 55 years old.

So we hope to reach the English-speaking market with about
10,000 to 20,000 copies. The advertisements in the English
version will also be different given the different market.

There will be many ads from international brands of
automotives, housing, sports, telecommunications and fashion.

The next step is to hire English-speaking Indonesian
journalists to write about certain issues that match our readers'
needs. We also hope to enter into joint ventures with established
local dailies in Southeast Asia, such as The Nation. We can start
by exchanging reports.

If this edition works, we may start in the future with other
schemes, such as creating a Tempo daily.

Could you describe the process leading to the English version?

It was rather complicated. There were pros and cons on whether
an English edition was needed. The ones who opposed it were
mostly concerned about the language adaptation of Tempo (from
Bahasa Indonesia to English), fearing that if it failed, it would
tarnish our image.

Could the English version represent Tempo's language style?
Could people catch the meaning, since Bahasa Indonesia is not as
straight and blunt as English? These were only a few questions
relating to the English version.

The above debate were similar to the ones on whether Tempo
should be republished after being banned on June 21, 1994. We
then decided through voting and Tempo was finally relaunched in
October 1998.

In this case (of the English version), finally the "pro" camp
won. Rustam F. Mandayun, one of our editors, is piloting this
project.

How long did it take to prepare, and what about the staff?

We prepared it for about five months through a pretrial on
Tempo Interaktif (website). We have also had three trial print
issues, containing an interview with Gus Dur (President
Abdurrahman Wahid) and covering the death sentence for a drug
dealer and the kidnapping of activists.

The fourth, our official English edition, the cover story
titled Massacre in Atambua: the Ugly Militias, was launched on
Sept. 12.

We have a group of 16 translators living in a number of cities
outside Jakarta, including Surakarta, Bandung, Sydney and London.
Thank God for the online system ... They are paid in rupiah and
some of them are from the Indonesian Observer daily.

My friends at Reuters also assisted us.

John McGlynn from the Lontar Foundation (focusing on
Indonesian literature) and Janet Steele of George Washington
University (who conducted research on Tempo) also helped a lot
with this project. We keep on encouraging the translators to do
better.

A simple example of translating problems is the phrase politik
dagang sapi which is not the (literal translation) of "cow
trading" but "horse trading"...

We are creating an English Tempo style. The English version,
however, appears two days after the Indonesian edition because it
takes some time to translate.

You said the country is already packed with Indonesian
publications. What should they do to survive?

I think the current course is decentralization. So the
existing media must be able to produce quality local content that
will attract more readers. Tempo tried to do so by publishing a
special edition in East Java and North Sumatra in late 1999. The
magazine in this two provinces has a supplement of local
contents.

I think the prospects for the press industry are still very
promising, even though the ones who survive are usually the more
established publications or magazines under license (adopted from
the original English version).

Will you be more selective in picking stories for the English
version, for instance omitting hot rumors like the President's
alleged affair with Aryanti?

Well, we will do it on a case by case basis. Of course, we
will not present hear-say reports. In the case of Aryanti, Tempo
was approached by her side during the Annual Session in August.
But we made a judgment, based on the fact that the alleged
incident took place five years ago, long before Abdurrahman
became president.

As a kyai (religious scholar), Abdurrahman never preached or
stated his disagreement with polygamy, and he is not a hypocrite.
He has always promoted democracy. Aryanti said there were certain
parties who led her to this "revelation of the 'affair'".

We later found that there might have been efforts to blackmail
the President, which led to the interests of certain parties. So
we chose not to run the story.

But if it turns out to be something worth reporting, of course
we would publish a comprehensive report on it. (Editha Hartanto).