UCCA files appeal over FCC ruling (03/19/95)

UCCA files appeal over FCC ruling

Ukrainian National Information Service

WASHINGTON - The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) has filed an appeal with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which contends that the nation's 1.5 million Ukrainian Americans are an "identifiable group," contrary to a February 8 ruling by FCC staff member Milton O. Gross.

Mr. Gross, chief of the FCC's Mass Media Bureau, dismissed the UCCA's personal attack complaint against CBS for its "60 Minutes" segment called "The Ugly Face of Freedom" on the grounds that he could not find a group "as large as" 1.5 million Ukrainian Americans to be an identifiable group under the FCC's personal attack rules.

The UCCA complaint had alleged that the October 23, 1994, "60 Minutes" broadcast was a distorted and malicious attack upon the character of all people of Ukrainian ancestry, including Ukrainian Americans.

The UCCA appeal argues that in prior cases the FCC has treated ethnic groups in the U.S., including Polish and Irish Americans, as identifiable groups entitled to challenge the fairness of TV and radio broadcasts. The appeal contends that Mr. Gross's ruling "denies every ethnic group in the U.S. the right to object to heinous closures against their ancestry and heritage." The UCCA concludes that "such a ruling cannot be and is not the law."

The UCCA also contends that the program's statement impugning Ukrainians as "genetically anti-Semitic" amounted to an attack on the 1.5 million Americans of Ukrainian descent. It thus sought to overturn Mr. Gross's finding that the "60 Minutes" program attacked only Ukrainians in Ukraine who are outside the scope of the FCC's personal attack rules.

Under FCC practice, the UCCA's appeal will be heard by the full five-member Federal Communications Commission and in the event of an adverse ruling by the agency, it will be brought to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The UCCA is represented in the matter by Askold S. Lozynskyj, a New York attorney and president of the UCCA.

If granted, the UCCA's personal attack complaint would require the stations named as respondents - the flagships and affiliates of CBS in Albany, N.Y.; Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, N.Y.; Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Hartford, Conn.; Los Angeles. Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Philadelphia and Washington - to broadcast a balanced program on Jewish-Ukrainian relations.

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