TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Tempo Magazine editor in chief Arif Zulkifli called on the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), who was offended by the caricature published by Tempo on February 26, to file a complaint with the Press Council.
“The Press Council is the right institution to resolve issues with an interpretation of journalism works," Arif said in Jakarta on Friday, March 16.
Read: Tempo Editors Meet FPI Representatives
The FPI executive board brought supporters to the Tempo building at Jalan Palmerah Barat to protest a cartoon published by Tempo that allegedly insults FPI Leader Rizieq Syihab. The cartoon depicted a man in a white robe sitting in front of a woman.
The FPI claimed that the cartoon insults Muslims, because they perceived the man in a white robe was Rizieq Syihab, who is currently staying in Saudi Arabia.
While the FPI masses staged a rally in front of the Tempo building, FPI representatives were in a dialogue with Arif, Koran Tempo editor in chief Budi Setyarso, corporate spokesperson Wahyu Muryadi. During the dialogue that lasted for an hour, the FPI agreed to file a complaint related to the cartoon. Tempo Magazine will publish an article as a response in the next week's edition.
After the dialogue, Arif and Budi spoke before the FPI supporters saying that a dispute over an article between readers and a media should be settled with the Press Council under the Law on Press.
“The work of journalism is not perfect, and the authorized institution to assess the imperfection is the Press Council," he said.
Read: FPI Rally at Tempo Building Causes Traffic Jam
As a response to the statement, FPI leaders demanded Arif to apologize for the caricature.
"I apologize for the impacts of the cartoon," said Arif.
Arif asserted that cartoon was not intended to insult the person being depicted. "The work of journalism is solely based on the facts, and nothing else," he said.
ARIPIN
