TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Tempo Magazine was granted with the 2021 Press Council Award on Thursday, Dec. 9, as the print media which promotes press freedom. The magazine’s executive editor Bagja Hidayat hopes the award will trigger Tempo and other press firms to continue to create high quality journalistic products.

“This recognition is for the editorial team at Tempo who have all worked hard to produce tremendous journalistic products,” said Bagja on December 9.

He believes press freedom comes with consequences which pushes the press to remain professional and independent in creating journalistic products. “In the freedom of the press, there are victims from the other side when the press are unprofessional,” he added.

The general public, According to Bagja, also plays a major role in press freedom when press disputes are solved through the Press Council instead of taking the criminal legal system route. He said that it will only harm the press freedom and seize the public’s right to obtain information.

Citing the speech of Press Council chief Muhammad Nuh at the award ceremony event Thursday evening, Bagja Hidayat said that the press is the fourth pillar of democracy after the executive, legislative, and judicial institutions.

“If the press conspires with the other three state pillars, then democracy will just be an illusive term."

The Indonesian Press Council each year awards media companies and individuals who support the freedom of the press. Apart from Tempo Magazine, the Press Council also awarded Tempo.co Director Wahyu Dyatmika for his role as a print media journalist that supports the press freedom.

Read: Palace: Press Freedom Must Be Maintained, Govt Needs Harsh Criticism

M ROSSENO AJI