CBS admits it never responded to complaints about broadcast (11/12/95)

CBS admits it never responded to complaints about broadcast

by Roman Woronowycz

JERSEY CITY, N.J. - After twice changing its stance, CBS now has admitted that it never responded to any letters sent by viewers complaining about the broadcast of the "60 Minutes" segment "The Ugly Face of Freedom."

In a reply to a petition submitted by attorney Arthur Belendiuk on behalf of Alexander Serafyn and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America charging the network with fraud and misrepresentation, CBS said human error was responsible for the company's failure to mail responses, which earlier it had said were sent.

Both Mr. Serafyn and the UCCA had previously filed actions against CBS for its errant broadcast of the now infamous distortion of Ukrainian-Jewish relations.

Initially the network had maintained that responses were sent to all complainants, then changed the figure to 25 percent of those who wrote, after pressure was brought to bear by Ukrainian American organizations. Now it acknowledges that responses were never sent.

Attorney Belendiuk said the veracity of all that CBS has said must be questioned. "They are changing the facts to fit what they cannot prove," he said. He also answered an allegation that CBS makes in its opposition to the Serafyn/UCCA petition that there is "clearly an escalating campaign of harassment against CBS by certain Ukrainian American organizations and individuals."

He told The Weekly: "Who's harassing whom here? We haven't called them genetically anti-Semitic."

The current controversy developed when the Ukrainian American Community Network filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission against CBS affiliate WUSA-TV of Washington after the group could find no letters of complaint on record at the local TV station. Those letters were sent by Washington-area Ukrainian Americans angry over the CBS affiliate's broadcast of "The Ugly Face of Freedom." WUSA-TV told the Ukrainian group that all the letters it received had been sent to CBS headquarters, as was customary.

Then Ray Faiola, director of audience services for CBS, informed WUSA that the letters in question could not be retrieved because they had been sent to long-term storage, but stated that those who had written CBS or its affiliates were sent form letters in response, and included an example in his correspondence.

Ukrainian American and WUSA attorneys, after investigating, could not find a single person who had received a response from CBS, which prompted Mr. Belendiuk to fire off a memorandum to the FCC in which he alleged that "based on the information... the CBS letter is a fraud."

After CBS consulted with its attorneys and with Mr. Faiola, it adjusted the figure on viewer letters answered to 25 percent of those received. However, Mr. Faiola now admits that he did not attempt to verify his statements "as to the number of persons to whom the response letter had been sent or even if it had been sent at all," as he stated in a declaration submitted to the FCC with the CBS reply.

In the same declaration, Mr. Faiola puts the blame for the inconsistencies fully upon himself and emphasizes that a response letter was prepared, but that after a process was completed to determine which of 16,000 letter writers should receive an answer, he simply forgot to order the letters mailed. "Mr. Faiola acknowledges that he was negligent in this matter, to which he failed to give 'much thought,' " states the latest assertion by CBS.

CBS goes on to establish that because it had no legal obligation to respond to viewer mail regarding the "60 Minutes" segment, it had "no reason to wish to mislead anyone," and that "to the extent that erroneous information was conveyed to the FCC staff by WUSA, this resulted from the good faith, although negligent, error of a single CBS employee."

Mr. Belendiuk, who replied to the opposition paper submitted by CBS, said the incident goes beyond simple incompetence in this instance, that conscious efforts were made to mislead and defraud.

He claims that CBS had clear reasons to make false statements. "CBS could not afford to lose or alienate another affiliate, especially in a market as large as Washington, D.C.," states the reply. "CBS would demonstrate that it was acting in the public interest by telling a small lie, that is, that it had responded to viewer complaints. When it was clear that this lie could not be sustained, CBS dissembled anew and said that it had responded to only 25 percent the viewers who had written..."

The reply to the CBS opposition paper also accuses CBS of simply trashing the letters it received. "It is (our) contention that these letters were never sent to long term storage; any long-term storage system which precludes the possibility of retrieval is, for all practical purposes, a dumpster."

Mr. Belendiuk told The Weekly, "When they were confronted they went to 'the dog ate the homework' reply."

He also commended the Ukrainian American community for their response in determining whether CBS had ever sent responses to those who had criticized the "60 Minutes" segment. "Much to the Ukrainian community's credit they came through," he said. "This is a good solid jab at CBS - it proves they are liars on some level."

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