Ukrainian organizations benefit from CBS funds (11/07/99)

Ukrainian organizations benefit from CBS funds

by R.L. Chomiak
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

WASHINGTON - More than 20 Ukrainian civic, religious and cultural organizations have benefited financially from the funds CBS paid to settle a case in which the network depicted Ukrainians as anti-Semites during a "60 Minutes" segment about Ukraine titled "The Ugly Face of Freedom."

Three Ukrainian American attorneys, Arthur Belendiuk of Washington, Bohdanna Pochoday of Chatham, N.J., and Askold Lozynskyj of New York City, donated the legal fees CBS paid them as part of the settlement to 23 organizations.

Mr. Lozynskyj donated his entire fee of $50,000 to the Million Dollar Fund of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, which he heads.

Among the organizations receiving donations from Mr. Belendiuk (a total of $50,000) and Ms. Pochoday ($18,500) were the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee, the Ukrainian National Foundation (an arm of the Ukrainian National Association), the Ukrainian National Women's League of America, The Ukrainian Museum, the Ukrainian Institute of America, The Washington Group, Ukrainian Churches (both Catholic and Orthodox), youth organizations (Plast and SUM), the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation, the Ukrainian Free University Foundation, as well as veterans', professional and business associations.

Ms. Pochoday and Mr. Belendiuk wrote a total of 27 checks in amounts ranging from $1,000 to $6,000. Some organizations received donations from both attorneys.

The fight with CBS, which lasted four years, "was a community effort; it was never a one-man operation," said Mr. Belendiuk, explaining why he and Ms. Pochoday decided to include a large number of groups as recipients of CBS money. The broadcasting network received 16,000 letters about the program, he said, and this significant response helped CBS see the seriousness of the case and realize that the entire community was outraged by its broadcast.

Mr. Belendiuk had special praise for Larysa Fontana and the Ukrainian American Community Network that she heads in Washington. He termed her challenge of a license for a CBS affiliate station and the activities of her small activist group "very instrumental" in getting the network to agree that its program injured Ukrainians.

He also mentioned the help of Lubomyr Luciuk, a Canadian historian, for his affidavit in support of the litigation, and the Ukrainian National Association for its financial assistance during the litigation.

"I may have been a quarterback on this case," Mr. Belendiuk noted, "but what's a quarterback without a team?" The team was the Ukrainian American community that told CBS, "If you do this, we will fight," he said.

CBS did not want to admit that it injured Ukrainians by branding them collectively as anti-Semitic. However, when the network, with its powerful legal team, lost on the court of appeals level, it was embarrassed and finally agreed to settle with the Ukrainian American appellants.

Mr. Belendiuk is a partner in the Washington firm of Smithwick & Belendiuk, P.C., and his specialty is communications law that includes broadcasting. Ms. Pochoday, a former president of the Ukrainian American Bar Association, is a solo practitioner based in Morristown, N.J. Both are members of The Washington Group, an association of Ukrainian American professionals.

Mr. Lozynskyj, a principal in the New York City law firm Askold S. Lozynskyj P.C., is president of the UCCA, as well as of the Ukrainian World Congress.

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