`Tempo' reporters have second thoughts about suing Harmoko
`Tempo' reporters have second thoughts about suing Harmoko
JAKARTA (JP): Former journalists of the defunct Tempo
magazine, in a desperate attempt to obtain a new publishing
license, said yesterday that they are willing to reconsider their
lawsuit against Minister of Information Harmoko filed with the
Jakarta State Administrative Court last week.
The journalists, who are planning to call their magazine
Opini, appear to be fighting a losing battle as a rival group,
backed by tycoon Mohammad (Bob) Hasan, seems on the verge of
securing a publishing license for a magazine called Gatra. They
originally considered calling it Masa.
"We will reconsider the suit if that is considered to be an
obstacle to us obtaining a new license," said Bambang Bujono, who
heads the foundation of Tempo employees in the bid to establish a
new magazine.
In their latest attempt to protest the government's closure of
Tempo, 50 employees of the defunct magazine filed a lawsuit
against Harmoko for making them "lose a media to express their
opinion". It was the second suit filed against the minister. The
first one was filed by the magazine's former chief editor
Goenawan Mohamad.
Bambang admitted that some of the Tempo staff had second
thoughts about filing the lawsuit and have asked that they be
allowed to consider withdrawing it to pave the way for a new
license.
By regulation, the minister of information has the power to
issue, and rescind, the press publication license.
Bambang said that Tempo foundation can still withdraw the
lawsuit because it has only reached a preliminary hearing level
at the Jakarta State Administrative Court.
"It is not fear which makes us decide like this. But we have
to think it over if continuing the suit will jeopardize our
chances of getting the license," he said.
He added that to most of the former Tempo employees, the chief
concern is to obtain jobs.
Bambang stressed that the suit was filed after careful
consideration. "We were then pessimistic that the government
would pay attention to our application for a license," he said.
Split
The Tempo staff has split on the future of the magazine, with
some 162 employees accepting Bob Hasan's offer to join his
project to start a new magazine. Of these however, only 22 are
journalists, while the rest are editorial support employees.
The majority of the 78 journalists rejected the offer, saying
that they preferred to set up their own independent magazine.
The government revoked Tempo's publishing license in June
because of its editorial content, although it was never
categorically stated which articles were deemed offensive. Two
other prominent weeklies Editor and DeTik lost their publishing
licenses at the same time in June for administrative reasons.
Bambang said the government is now considering the two
applications for Gatra and Opini, but only one license will be
issued.
Tempo sources said that some of those who had supported Opini
were beginning to consider joining Bob Hasan's project.
Bambang acknowledged that Gatra was very likely to get the
license because it was backed by Bob Hasan.
Bambang said many of the journalists are ready to find other
jobs if Opini's license application is turned down. "For the
moment, we are sticking to the government's statement that it
will give the license to the former Tempo employees and that
those who are not satisfied can file a suit at the Administrative
Court," he said.
He added that the employees will not adjust their application
for Opini to suit the government's needs. (par)