EDITORIAL: The ugly... (08/16/98)

EDITORIAL

The ugly...

There was some good news this week for the Ukrainian community as we won a round in our protracted battle with CBS over "The Ugly Face of Freedom," a report that depicted Ukrainians as "genetically anti-Semitic." The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has found that there are serious questions about whether CBS intentionally distorted information in that news segment on "60 Minutes," and it has ordered the Federal Communications Commission to review the matter.

In its inimitable way, the New York Post headlined its August 12 news story about the case " '60 Minutes': looks ugly." Yes, quite true. It is now CBS's highly rated newsmagazine that looks ugly; the tables have been turned. As a result of the ruling the network's journalistic integrity is on the line - along with its broadcast licenses.

But we must not get carried away by some momentary good news. There is a long haul ahead.

In the wake of the court's ruling, the FCC appears to have three options: rework its decision, call for more evidence, or hold a full-scale hearing on the matter. The best-case scenario for Ukrainians is the third. Whether that happens, frankly, depends to a large degree on our community. Will we be able to muster the outrage that followed the original broadcast on October 23, 1994, and use it to our advantage? Will we support continued efforts to right this wrong? Will we apply the pressure needed to have the FCC call a hearing?

After all, the FCC is a political creature and, as such, responds to political pressure. We must demand a hearing before the FCC; we must let our senators and representatives know what we are demanding from that federal agency and we must seek our legislators' support and, in turn, their pressure on the FCC to give this case its most serious attention. You can bet your life that CBS will be out there lobbying - and their representative is the No. 1 lobbyist at the FCC, according to those in the know. Are we ready and able to counter-lobby?

As attorney Arthur V. Belendiuk told the Weekly in January 1995, after the original petition regarding CBS was filed with the FCC, "You can't just make stuff up out of whole cloth, broadcast it and then, when people point that out to you, say: well, we don't care; we're going to stand by our story. ...When you do that, I think you're playing fast and loose with your right to be a licensee." Those words are still true today. Thus, our approach must be to continue to seek the truth and to continue to insist that the public deserves the truth from CBS.

This week Ukrainians were handed an opportunity to pursue our grievance against CBS and presented a challenge. It is up to us: will we have the time, the energy and the funds? If we do nothing, we will get nothing, other than a polite decision from the FCC saying, well, we looked into the matter, but ...

| Home Page |