Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan - Mar 1951)

CHARGE COTTONE 'BIAS'™^ COUNSEL for G. A. (Dick) Richards last week accused FCC General Counsel Benedict P. Cottone of "bias" in the hearing on Mr. Richards' news polices, and called upon the Commission to say whether it supports Mr. Cottone's "interpretation" of the issues. The charge was made in a reply to the General Counsel's opposition to a petition asking FCC to reconsider and grant the license-renewal applications of the three Richards stations, or, alternatively, to base its decision on their performance since their last renewals [Broadcasting • Telecasting, Jan. 15]. Attorneys Hugh Fulton and Joseph W. Burns, chief trial counsel for Mr. Richards, said in their reply that Mr. Cottone's brief — in which he accused them of making "scandalous and scurrilous charges" designed to becloud the issues of the case — failed "completely" to answer any of their contentions. "The evidence of bias on the part of General Counsel and his failure to answer the questions raised in applicants' brief indicate strongly the necessity for the Commission reconsidering the order now," Messrs. Fulton and Burns asserted, referring to reconsideration of the FCC order designating the renewal applications for hearing. Ask for Statement "The Commission should determine whether a prejudiced report by its staff resulted in its ordering a hearing where one was not justified," they claimed. "It should state whether it supports the interpretation of the issues presented by the General Counsel." Mr. Richards is principal owner of KMPC Los Angeles, WJR Detroit, and WGAR Cleveland. The hearing involves charges that he ordered newsmen to slant newscasts according to his views. Counsel for the station owner contended that "the question before the Commission is whether the renewal of the licenses of these three stations is in the public interest." They claimed Mr. Cottone did not contradict testimony that KMPC and WJR "had outstanding records of superiority in public service and programming," and said "the record of WGAR was conceded, as no evidence at all was introduced by General Counsel with respect to that station." Declaring that FCC "purports" to act solely in the public interest and that accordingly "the judgment of the public with respect to the programming of these stations is of paramount importance," they ' continued: The testimony of the excellent reputations of the stations constitutes a verdict of the people served by these great stations in favor of the stations and their continued existence and the continuation of their splendid services. Stations that have carried such a splendid reputation in their communities should not be required to engage in a life and death struggle to prove their right to exist. And Mr. Richards, under whose aegis such stations were built from tiny beginnings and under whom they created such an outstanding reputation, should not be required to prove he is a fit character to own stock of radio stations. Their reply noted that the hearing on KMPC alone lasted from June 14 to Dec. 4, 1950. With the hearing now completed, they expected that preparation of proposed findings would require "several months" and that Examiner James D. Cunningham, who conducted the hearing, would then need "several months" more to prepare an initial decision. Messrs. Fulton and Burns recalled that they had accused Mr. Cottone of "suppressing evidence favorable to applicants," and said he had never answered the charge except to say that accusations of improper conduct will be shown false at "the appropriate time." They suggested that "at such time, he should also make an appropriate showing under oath that Sec. 605 of the Communications Act was not violated in his search for evidence against these stations." (Sec. 605 covers unauthorized publication of communications.) Questions which they said Mr. Cottone's handling of the case had raised, but which his brief did not answer, included: Whether FCC claims the power to control the content of all programs; whether FCC thinks all programs must be "balanced"; whether it feels that broadcasting a program to promote basic Constitutional freedoms requires a station to "broadcast views of those opposing such freedoms"; whether a broadcast by the President requires a station to seek out and present an opposition point of view; whether a station owner "may not decide what type of music will be played," and whether he may not discuss his private political, social, and economic views with his employes; and whether FCC claims the power to determine whether news broadcasts are biased or impartial. "Those are issues which have been presented by General Counsel," Messrs. Fulton and Burns asserted. 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