Citing 60 Minutes' report, Rhode Island man seeks to block CBS acquisition of local license (04/30/95)

Citing 60 Minutes' report, Rhode Island man seeks to block CBS acquisition of local license

Roman Woronowycz

JERSEY CITY, N.J. - A second petition has been filed by a Ukrainian American with the Federal Communications Commission to deny CBS a license to broadcast - another in a series of legal actions brought against the broadcaster in response to a news segment it ran an October 1994. The latest petition to deny was filed on April 26 by Oleg Nikolyszyn of North Smithfield, R.l., to block the assignment of a broadcast license to CBS from WPRI-Channel 12 in Providence, R.I.

CBS has tendered an offer to purchase the assets of WPRI-TV, including its broadcast license, at a cost of $83 million. The assets sale is contingent upon obtaining the FCC approval of the WPRI-TV assignment application, which was filed with the commission on March 15 by WPRI-TV owner Narragansett Television.

The Providence petition, like the other actions, cites one CBS news story in particular, the now infamous "60 Minutes" piece called "The Ugly Face of Freedom," which aired on October 23, 1994, and has caused a maelstrom of protest from Ukrainians and Jews in the United States, Canada and Ukraine.

Mr. Nikolyszyn's petition follows one filed in Detroit on November 10, 1994, by retired Ford Co. executive Alexander Serafyn that is currently pending before the FCC. A personal attack complaint was also filed against CBS by the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America in October 1994,: but was rejected by the FCC. That decision is now being appealed.

Mr. Nikolyszyn's petition makes some of the same points as the one filed by Mr. Serafyn. It states that CBS has failed to meet its public interest obligations by not serving the needs of the Ukrainian community, that CBS is responsible for news distortion, for intentionally rigging the "60 Minutes" news segment, slanting facts and misinterpreting words.

Bohdanna Pochoday, attorney for Mr. Nikolyszyn, said the petition has four elements but that the issues of distorted and slanted reporting and the staging of the news in the "60 Minutes" report are central. "No station license can be assigned unless public convenience and necessity and public goodwill are benefited," said Ms. Pochoday. "We're saying that CBS will be unable to provide for the special needs of the Ukrainian community based on its past record."

Another element of the complaint states that the FCC should not move on her client's petition until the Serafyn petition is acted upon. One point of the petition states that "in the Detroit WGPR-TV proceedings, information has surfaced that CBS entered into three undisclosed side-agreements with WGPR Inc., which alleged CBS to finance millions of dollars worth of improvements to the facilities of WGPR." Ms. Pochoday explained that the results of the Detroit case will have an effect on the Providence petition.

She said that a third key issue, which the FCC's Mass Media Bureau must decide, is whether CBS showed a lack of candor by not filing certain legal papers that detailed the financial agreements involved in the CBS attempt to purchase the Detroit television station, which has direct bearing on the Nikolyszyn petition. "They have intentionally failed to disclose the material side agreements in the WGPR-TV assignment application," said the attorney.

Different circumstances propelled CBS to look for new digs in Detroit and in Providence. In Detroit, CBS lost its long-time affiliate, WJBK-TV, when Fox Broadcasting convinced the station to carry its programming, a move the upstart broadcaster has repeated around the country and which has depleted a portion of CBS's affiliate base.

In Providence, WPRI-TV General Manager Paul Kilcullen said CBS wants to break with its former affiliate, WLNE-TV, because it wants ownership of a station in the market. "They went because we weren't for sale and they [WPRI-TV] were," said Mr. Kilcullen, who works for Freedom Communications.

Ms. Pochoday said that until the FCC approves the transfer of the license from WPRI to CBS the deal cannot be completed. "CBS has to wait for FCC approval, which cannot take place while petitions are pending. So, for them, time is money." CBS attorney Howard Jaeckel, who is working on the Detroit case, said he is not aware of the Providence petition and had no comment.

| Home Page |