the Denikin reactionaries. In deliberately lying and provocative reports they are changing arbitrarily the places of the pogroms which are arranged in the Ukraine by the Bolsheviks and by the reactionary clique who are in close connection with Denikin's and Polish reactionary circles' secret plans. In mendacious publications and in public letters addressed to the leading representatives of European countries, all these happenings are charged to the account of the government of the Ukrainian Democratic Republic, although its aim is to suppress vigorously all pogroms. In view of the fact that such provocations and aims of the Polish and Denikin reactionaries endanger the struggle for freedom of the Ukrainian Republic as well as the peaceful coexistence of the peoples of the Ukraine, the government of the Ukrainian Democratic Republic have set themselves the most urgent task of doing away with all possibility of provocations, pogroms or other excesses, and of calling to account all persons hostile to the Ukrainian State, who are doing the treacherous pogrom work in the Ukraine. The Government has decided: 1. To make at once a proposal to the Commander-in-Chief, Petlura that he issue an order by which all commanders of the respective bodies of troops, from the lowest to the highest ones, would be called to account for negligence and tolerating pogrom excesses, and that they would be immediately arrested as traitors and handed over to a special court-martial which would impose upon them the severest penalty, including the death sentence. 2. To issue an order in the name of the Government and in the name of the Commander-in-Chief to the Ukrainian partisans on the other side of the battlefront that they also 1. should take a vigorous action against the instigators of pogroms, 2. fight against particular treacherous pogrom bands and annihilate them - always remembering that the army of the Ukrainian Democratic Republic does not tolerate pogroms on its victorious march and inflicts the severe punishment upon all the guilty ones. 3. To appoint immediately a special government commission with extensive powers of investigating pogroms and of combating them; the said commission to be composed of one representative from the following offices: The Commander-in-Chief, the Inspector General, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Internal Affairs, and the Minister for Jewish Affairs. The Commission should proceed at once to the frontline to the area of liberated cities and other places of the Ukrainian Democratic Republic. The Commander-in-Chief should be advised to order an authorization with full powers to the Commission. 4. Through inspections, the bodies of troops and the commissioners of the Ukrainian Democratic Republic should be informed about the foreign provocative work of the enemies of the Ukrainian Republic, who exploit the pogrom excesses for their own purposes. 5. By means of a special report from the Prime Minister, to inform the Directorate of the Ukrainian Democratic Republic of this Decree, and to manifest the Government's firm determination and effort in the direction of removing completely any possibility of pogroms in the Ukraine. 6. To issue an appropriate proclamation of the government to the people. 7. The Minister for Press and Information should initiate an intensive campaign against pogrom arrangers; inform the foreign press and foreign public about the actual state of affairs, and protest against the outrageous slandering of the government of the Ukrainian Democratic Republic. 8. The Minister of Justice should at once take steps that all those who are guilty of pogrom excesses, i.e. those who already have been arrested as well as those who may be arrested, should be handed over to a special court. 9. This Decree is to be made public. (Ukraina, August 21, 1919.) HOME DISINFORMATION PETLIURA 552 hits since 23Mar99 Symon Petliura Army Order No. 131 26Aug1919 Do not stain those deeds It is time for you to understand that the peaceful Jewish population, their children and women the same as ourselves have been oppressed and deprived of national freedom. They can not be alienated from us, they have of old been always with us and they have shared with us their joys and sorrows. Army Order of the Supreme Command of the Ukrainian Democratic Republic, August 26, 1919. No. 131 Officers and Soldiers! It is time for you to realize that the Jews together with the majority of the Ukrainian population have recognized the evil of the Bolshevist-Communist invasion, and know already where the truth lies. The most important Jewish parties, such as: "Bund", "United Jewish Socialists", "Poalej-Zion" and "People's Party", have decidedly placed themselves on the side of the Ukrainian independent state and are working together hand-in-hand for its good. It is time for you to understand that the peaceful Jewish population, their children and women the same as ourselves have been oppressed and deprived of national freedom. They can not be alienated from us, they have of old been always with us and they have shared with us their joys and sorrows. The gallant army which brings brotherhood, equality, and freedom to all peoples of the Ukraine should not be lending an ear to various adventurers and provocateurs who long for human blood. Likewise, the Army should not be a party to bringing a hard lot on the Jews. Whoever is guilty of permitting such a heavy crime is a traitor and enemy of the country and must be thrust out of human society. Officers and soldiers! The whole world cannot but admire our heroic deeds in the struggle for freedom. Do not stain those deeds - not even accidentally - by disgraceful actions and do not bring down burning shame upon our state in the face of the whole world. Our many enemies, external as well as internal, are already profiting by the pogroms; they are pointing their fingers at us and inciting against us saying that we are not worthy of an independent national existence and that we deserve to be again forcefully harnessed to the yoke of slavery. I, your Commander-in-Chief, tell you that this very moment the question of to be or not to be for our independent existence is being decided before the International Tribunal. Officers and soldiers! The judgement on this question rests in your hands, so decide it by showing an armed fist against our enemies remembering always that a clean cause demands clean hands. Be sure that a severe and lawful punishment by a people's court will overtake all enemies of our country; but remember also that vengeance - often the result of want of careful consideration - is not the way of the Ukrainian Cossacks. I most positively order that all those who are instigating you to pogroms be thrust out of the army, and as traitors to the fatherland be handed over to the court. Let the court punish them according to their crimes by giving them the severest lawful penalty. The Government of the Ukrainian Democratic Republic recognizing the harm done to the state by the pogroms has issued an appeal to the whole population of the Ukraine to withstand all attempts of the enemies who might arouse it to anti-Jewish pogroms. I command the whole army to obey this appeal and to provide for its widest dissemination among comrades-in-arms and among the population. This Army Order is to be read to all division, brigades, regiments, garrisons and squadrons of the Dnieper and Dniester armies, as well as the partisan detachments. The Commander-in-Chief: Petliura. The Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander: Junakiv. F. Pigido (ed.), Material Concerning Ukrainian-Jewish Relations during the Years of the Revolution (1917-1921): Collection of Documents and Testimonies by Prominent Jewish Political Workers, The Ukrainian Information Bureau, Munich, 1956. HOME DISINFORMATION PETLIURA 504 hits since 25Mar99 Symon Petliura Appeal to Ukrainian Army 27Aug1919 To sow discord among us Let the death sentence overtake the perpetrators of pogroms and provocateurs. I demand the strictest discipline from you so that not even a hair of an innocent's head be touched. Appeal of the Commander-in-Chief, Petlura, to the Ukrainian Army. Soldiers of the Ukrainian Army! The Ukrainian Republican People's Army of the Dnieper and Dniester territories, now united into one army, is advancing victoriously, is crushing the enemy, gaining each day new territories of the Ukraine to liberate them from the Bolshevist brigands, bringing with them freedom to the Ukrainian people as well as the certainty of happy days of living in a peaceful and orderly state. The Bolshevist anarchy and maladministration, the horrible Red terror, the tyranny of the extraordinary inquiry commission [the Cheka] and of other criminals for whom there is nothing sacred in life - have sapped our people's strength to the utmost and have flooded our steppes with human tears and with streams of blood of the innocent. Amidst a peal of church bells, with bread and salt, with flowers and tears of joy the weary, oppressed and pillaged Ukrainian people are greeting you, their valiant warriors, as liberators from the yoke and from Bolshevist atrocities, as flesh of their flesh and blood of their blood. A might national enthusiasm has seized our people at your entry into villages and towns, and everywhere a festive reception is awaiting you - and all this has been brought about by you, officers and soldiers of the Ukrainian army! You are living now through glorious and never to be forgotten moments of your life, and together with you all peoples inhabiting the Ukrainian territory are experiencing the same enthusiasm. The holy crusade for the liberation of the oppressed, regardless of their nationality, for the rule of law and order under freedom and democracy and the independence of our republic - these are the ideals in this struggle. The union of all democratic forces of all nationalities in the Ukraine, standing for the independence of our Republic, and their participation in the reconstruction of the state will warrant our victory over our enemies, and will guarantee to us an independent life subject to no one. Our enemies, however, are not sleeping but only watching our every step in order to sow discord among us in one way or another, and thus to frustrate the immediate realization of our people's efforts. The Bolshevists themselves consider the Ukraine Moscow's inheritance - with the difference that formerly it was the heritage of black Moscow, now of a Red one. They see that the end of their rule in the Ukraine is already approaching because the Ukrainian people themselves have risen against them: but they do not give up yet their hope of subjugating the Ukrainian masses. By provocations for which they are spending enormous sums of money they want to divide us from within, hiring criminal elements who are inciting our soldiers to all sorts of outrages and pogroms against the innocent Jewish population; in this way they want to stamp our soldiers as pogrom-mongers, although these soldiers are bringing liberty to all peoples of the Ukraine. Our enemies intend thus to split the Ukrainian and Jewish laboring masses whose ways, in fact, have been bound together by three hundred years of Russian tsarist yoke. Our national army must bring equality, brotherhood and freedom to the Ukrainian as well as the Jewish citizens who are also supporting actively the government of the Ukrainian Democratic Republic. All their parties, i.e.: Bund, Obyednantsi, Poalej-Zion and People's Party are standing on the principles of the independence of the Ukraine, and are participating in the reconstruction of the republic. I know myself how the representatives of the Jewish population have helped our army and supported our legal republican government. The enemies of our state, the Bolshevists, are shooting down not only the Ukrainian but also the Jewish people, depriving the others of the barest means of living. I have the highest esteem for the sacrifices made during this war upon the altar of the fatherland by the Jewish population. From the reports by the commanders of our brave divisions and corps as well from reports by State Inspectors I have already learned that the Jewish population brought help to our wounded and sick soldiers, in the hospitals which had been built hastily 3-5 kilometers behind the battlefronts. I have been touched deeply by tears of thankfulness in the eyes of our soldiers for the loving care and human aid given them by Jews, and I have noted with satisfaction how the soldiers of our army were standing guard at the shops and stores of Jews in order to protect them against plunderers. The restoration of a bridge at Starokonstantyniv - which had been destroyed by the Bolshevists - by the Jewish population in an exceedingly short time, as well as their help with foodstuffs and underwear testify also to the loyal conduct of Jews in relation to our army. I am convinced and I ardently hope that in the future such help on the part of Jews will occur ever more frequently and that they will continue to further the cause of peace in our country. The Minister for Jewish Affairs has by a series of measures already exercised some influence upon the Bolshevist circles of Jews so that many of them no longer support Bolshevism, since they consider it now to be their ruin. Together with you I call upon the Jewish citizens to go with us and to support wholeheartedly our army and our government; then we shall be able to affirm that the government of the Ukrainian Democratic Republic and you, its army, will finish that great responsible work which you are now doing - destroying the power of the Bolshevists and building up our independent republic in which each nationality enjoys full rights and a peaceful life. Officers and soldiers of the Ukrainian Army! The Ukrainian-Jewish laboring masses see in you their liberation, and future generations will not forget your services rendered to them; history will with pride record on its pages your achievements in this struggle. Beware of provocations, and have no mercy on provocateurs or on those who execute pogroms, or incite the weakest among you to this action. Let the death sentence overtake the perpetrators of pogroms and provocateurs. I demand the strictest discipline from you so that not even a hair of an innocent's head be touched. Bear in mind that you are the elite sons of your great nation which wants to live its independent life and to be subjugated by no one, and therefore keep an unflinching watch on its interests as well as on the interests of all those who help you and are well-disposed to you and to the liberation of your people. Those who are guilty before the Ukrainian people and before the republic, no matter what their nationality, shall suffer the severest punishment according to law prevailing in the territory of the Ukrainian republic; to the innocent, however, you must bring liberation from the hated Bolshevist yoke. The Republic's and my own cordial thanks to and high esteem for your martial bravery, devotion, and self-sacrifice which your offer upon the altar of the fatherland, while liberating our Ukraine and the nationalities living there - including the Jews - from the Bolshevists. May God help us in the great and sacred cause of liberating the nations from the heavy yoke of the Bolshevists! August 27, 1919 Commander-in-Chief: Petlura. (Ukraina, September 2, 1919.) F. Pigido (ed.), Material Concerning Ukrainian-Jewish Relations during the Years of the Revolution (1917-1921): Collection of Documents and Testimonies by Prominent Jewish Political Workers, The Ukrainian Information Bureau, Munich, 1956, pp. 70-72. HOME DISINFORMATION PETLIURA 836 hits since 23Mar99 Arnold Margolin The Ukraine and the Policy of Entente 1921 Russian and Ukrainian pogroms compared If the beginning of the demoralization of the Ukrainian army was at its tail, by Denikin's army the poison of demoralization came from the head. EXTRACTS from the book by Arnold Margolin "The Ukraine and the policy of the Entente" (Memorandum by a Jew and a citizen). Publisher C. Efron. Berlin, 1921. Chapter XXIV. Pages 310-315. Pogroms of the period of the Directorate, and of Denikin's Army. - Parallels. - Nations and Governments. I have before me the report on pogroms, prepared by the Relief Committee for the Victims of Pogroms, at the Russian Red Cross in Kiev. It is stated in the report that there were no pogroms during the rule of the Central Council, or of Skoropadsky, or during the first two months of the Directorate's rule. Pogroms began after defeats that had been inflicted upon the troops of the Directorate by the Bolsheviks. The heavier the defeats and the farther Petlura's army was compelled to retreat, the more cruel was their vengeance upon the innocent Jewish population whom they identified with Communists. The slogan: "down with Jews and Communists," or "all Jews are Communists" were raised throughout the Ukraine and provoked pogroms everywhere. This explanation of the origin of pogroms is quite identical with the statement made in Temnytsky's and Vasylko's telegram of August 1, 1919. In the course of centuries the entire population of Russia had been listening to accusations by the government of Jews being responsible for all the evils in the world. The ignorant masses believed even the legends about the ritual murder of Christian children by Jews, while even the "specialists" in this subject were declaring that Jews kill only boys. Karab-Tchevsky tells us in the first part of his memoirs ("What My Eyes Saw") that his mother had already in his childhood read to him the New Testament, and when it came to the torturing of Jesus Christ, his nurse or housemaid would exclaim: "the hideous Jews, they surely killed Christ by torture!" (p. 23). The pogroms of the years 1880 in Kishinev and Homel, came as the result of false rumors and of promises of exemption from punishment for plundering during three days. This time, however, the participation of Jews in the Bolshevist movement was no more a rumor, but a fact which it was very easy to exaggerate. On the other side, the impunity for plundering lasted this time not only three days, but indefinitely on account of the absence of any authority that could stop the plundering. For, what authority could exist during the panic of retreat before Trotsky's army? ... Under such conditions a favorable atmosphere was created for the rapacious instincts of the demoralized segments of the army, as well as for the development of the ideological barbarity of Semesenko and for the provocateurs from the Russian Black-Hundred camp, who were pogrommongers by conviction and wished at the same time to discredit the Ukrainian movement by branding it as being guilty of pogroms. All this, of course, is not justification, but only one of many explanations of the origin of pogroms during the period of the Directorate. Quite a different picture is displayed by the comparison of this period of pogroms with the pogroms by Denikin's army. Here is no question of retreat and of chaos that is connected with retreat. On the contrary, the more successful the advance, the more organized and stronger is the propaganda from above and the more according to plan the pogroms are developed. If the beginning of the demoralization of the Ukrainian army was at its tail, by Denikin's army the poison of demoralization came from the head. As we have seen already, the Denikin officers openly declared that they were fighting not against the Bolsheviks, but against the Jews. To be sure, there were also in Denikin's army many persons of a purely rapacious type. But the most horrible thing was the deeply rooted anti-Semitism of the chiefs that surrounded Denikin, and their sadistic hate of Jews. I, personally, am not inclined to assume that Denikin himself wanted pogroms. Even to Denikin, in spite of his anti-Semitism, it was impossible not to see the fatal results of pogroms for his army. But he, too, was powerless on the question of pogroms, nor had he any inclination to come forward in defense of the Jews. The second characteristic feature which distinguishes the very course of the pogroms in one area from the other consists in the fact that in Petlura's army, we surely find cases when some individual persons or groups succeeded in preventing or stopping pogroms. Two such cases are cited by Temkin in his report, the other two cases are given in the report of the Relief Committee for the Victims of Pogroms. Red Army soldiers arranged an anti-Jewish pogrom in the city of Korosten in March 13, 1919. When the soldiers of Petlura's army which was at that time advancing, reached the city, they stopped the pogroms. In Bila Tserkva the Ukrainian army - having expelled in August the Denikin troops of Gen. Shkuro and then the Red troops, who one after another plundered and massacred the population - behaved in full dignity until in turn they were substituted by Zeleny's bands that immediately arranged a pogrom. Later the unfortunate town was attacked by Sokolov's bands, after which the Ukrainian troops again succeeded in restoring order for a short time. Lubny escaped a pogrom thanks to the fact that a hundred men were found in the Ukrainian ranks, who with their arms stood in the way of the pogrommakers. Fourteen of the defenders fell in the fight but the town was saved. While reading the story about Lubny in this part of the report, I recalled the year 1905 when a City Committee of Defense was organized in Lubny, which also saved the city from a pogrom. Such facts were unknown in Denikin's army. Here the "guilty" of such patronage and defense of Jews were punished with dismissal from their posts. The third feature, a very disadvantageous one for Denikin's army and government, appears as a result of the comparison of the declarations by the Ukrainian government on the Jewish question, of laws concerning personal-national autonomy and Jewish Communities on the one hand, - with the clauses restricting the number of Jews in educational institutions as well as in civil and military services in Denikin's empire - on the other hand. Here, on the part of the Ukrainian government, an effort to draw on representatives of Jews in all levels of government posts, and over there - in Denikin's camp - removal of Jewish officers from the army, and of Jewish officials from district and city offices. And this - in spite of the fact that so many Jews joined voluntarily at the very beginning Koltchak's and Denikin's armies. And how many Jews having been brought up with a Russian culture died for Russia that had been always a stepmother to them? On the other hand, how small a group of us, Jews, joined the Ukrainian movement at the beginning of the second revolution! Of course, there was nothing strange in it. Wilson's points had been declared but recently, and the realization of the right of self-determination by the Ukrainian people wa such a new and fresh event that not only the average Jewish citizen, but also the intellectuals, with few exceptions, did not digest or understand all that had happened. But the fact remains, Jews were represented by a very considerable number in the ranks both of the Bolsheviks and, at the beginning, of Denikin's army. The Ukrainian movement was joined only by a few Jews. The representatives of Russian and Jewish capital and heavy industry were marching hand-in-hand with the Volunteer Armies of Denikin, Yudenitch, and Koltchak. And even after all those pogroms committed by Denikin's army, the Jewish capitalists and industrialists followed the call of his successor Wrangel, and joined him Finally, one more feature out of many others that distinguish the Ukrainian Movement from that of Denikin: An anti-Jewish pogrom was openly carried on in Kiev in the presence of Denikin's generals, Drahomirov and Bredov. Never did happen anything like that, wherever the Directorate set up headquarters, neither in Kiev, nor in Vynnytsia, nor in Kamanets-Pololsk. The Kiev population knows from bitter experience the difference between those two regimes. Nevertheless, in spite of all these quite essential differences, here abroad the pogroms of the followers of Petlura are much more known than those perpetrated by Denikin's army, although the latter numerically and qualitatively surpassed considerably the former. This is to be explained not only by the propaganda of the Russian groups which have old connections and larger means in Europe and America, but also by the incontestable fact that the first series of pogroms attracted the greatest attention and brought forth the strongest expression of dissatisfaction on the part of the public. (In F. Pigido (ed.), Material Concerning Ukrainian-Jewish Relations during the Years of the Revolution (1917-1921): Collection of Documents and Testimonies by Prominent Jewish Political Workers, The Ukrainian Information Bureau, Munich, 1956, pp. 48-51) HOME DISINFORMATION 60 MINUTES 989 hits since 12Aug98 Ginsburg U.S. Court of Appeals 11Aug98 Serafyn vs. Federal Communications Commission Serafyn also submitted evidence that "60 Minutes" had no policy against news distortion and indeed that management considered some distortion acceptable. For example, according to the Washington Post, Mike Wallace, a longtime reporter for "60 Minutes," told an interviewer: "You don't like to baldly lie, but I have." An introduction to the United States Court of Appeals decision below can be found in an Associated Press article by Jeannine Aversa which is on the Ukrainian Archive. The original of the Court of Appeals decision below can be found on the United States Court of Appeals web site whose home page is at www.cadc.uscourts.gov and where the decision can either be accessed by following links from the Court of Appeals home page, or else accessed directly at www.cadc.uscourts.gov/common/opinions/199808/95-1385a.txt. As page numbering was not indicated in the Court of Appeals web site version, it could not be inserted below, although page boundaries could be inferred and are indicated below by means of horizontal lines. The version below inserts clickable yellow CONTENTS boxes to remedy the general problem of a reader's losing track of where he is within a large document when reading it on screen, and to facilitate moving effortlessly from one part of the document to another. CONTENTS: Title Page I. Background II. News Distortion A. Evidentiary standard B. Licensee's policy on distortion C. Nature of particular evidence 1. Extrinsic evidence (a) Outtakes of the interview with Rabbi Bleich (b) The viewer letters (c) The refusal to consult Professor Luciuk 2. Evidence of factual inaccuracies D. Misrepresentation III. Conclusion United States Court of Appeals FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT Argued January 23, 1998 Decided August 11, 1998 No. 95-1385 Alexander J. Serafyn, et al., Appellants v. Federal Communications Commission, Appellee CBS Inc., et al., Intervenors Consolidated with Nos. 95-1440, 95-1608 Appeal of Orders of the Federal Communications Commission Arthur V. Belendiuk argued the cause and filed the briefs for appellants. Shaun A. Maher and Donna T. Pochoday entered appearances. C. Grey Pash, Jr., Counsel, Federal Communications Com- mission, argued the cause for appellee, with whom Christo- pher J. Wright, General Counsel, and Daniel M. Armstrong, Associate General Counsel, were on the brief. Richard E. Wiley, Lawrence W. Secrest, III, James R. Bayes, and Daniel E. Troy were on the brief for intervenors CBS Inc. and Westinghouse Electric Corporation. John Lane Jr., Ramsey L. Woodworth, and Robert M. Gurss entered appearances. Before: Ginsburg, Henderson, and Randolph, Circuit Judges. Opinion for the court filed by Circuit Judge Ginsburg. Ginsburg, Circuit Judge: Alexander Serafyn petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to deny or to set for hearing the application of CBS for a new station license. Serafyn objected that CBS was not fit to receive a license because it had aired a news program in which it intentionally distorted the situation in Ukraine by claiming that most Ukrainians are anti-Semitic. The Commission summarily denied the petition, holding that Serafyn had not submitted enough evidence to warrant a hearing. Because the Commis- sion neither applied the correct standard nor provided a reasoned explanation in its decision, we vacate its order and remand the matter to the agency for further proceedings. Serafyn also petitioned to revoke CBS's existing licenses on the ground that CBS made a material misrepresentation to the Commission when it gave an affiliated station false infor- mation regarding its handling of viewer letters complaining about the same program. The Commission denied that peti- tion on the ground that Serafyn had not alleged that CBS intentionally misrepresented the matter to the Commission. We uphold the Commission's decision in this matter as rea- sonable. CONTENTS: Title Page I. Background II. News Distortion A. Evidentiary standard B. Licensee's policy on distortion C. Nature of particular evidence 1. Extrinsic evidence (a) Outtakes of the interview with Rabbi Bleich (b) The viewer letters (c) The refusal to consult Professor Luciuk 2. Evidence of factual inaccuracies D. Misrepresentation III. Conclusion I. Background Section 309(a) of the Communications Act provides that the Federal Communications Commission may grant a broadcast license only when it determines that doing so would serve the "public interest, convenience, and necessity." 47 U.S.C. s 309(a). Under s 309(d) of the Act any interested person may petition the FCC to deny or to set for hearing any application for a broadcast license or to revoke an existing broadcaster's license. The petition must contain specific allegations of fact sufficient to show that ... a grant of the application would be prima facie inconsistent with [the public interest, convenience, and necessity]. Such allegations of fact shall ... be supported by affida- vit of a person ... with personal knowledge thereof. Id. The FCC must hold a hearing if it finds that the application presents a "substantial and material question of fact" or if it is otherwise unable to conclude that granting the application would serve the public interest. See s 309(e). As the Commission interprets it, s 309 erects a two-step barrier to a hearing: (1) a petition must contain specific allegations of fact that, taken as true, make out a prima facie case that grant of the application would not serve the public interest; and (2) the allegations, taken together with any opposing evidence before the Commission, must still raise a substantial and material question of fact as to whether grant of the application would serve the public interest. See Astro- line Communications Co. v. FCC, 857 F.2d 1556, 1561 (D.C. Cir. 1988) (describing two-step test). At the first step, "[t]he Commission's inquiry ... is much like that performed by a trial judge considering a motion for a directed verdict: if all the supporting facts alleged in the affidavits were true, could a reasonable factfinder conclude that the ultimate fact in dispute had been established." Gencom, Inc. v. FCC, 832 F.2d 171, 181 (D.C. Cir. 1987). At the second step, a substan- tial and material question is raised when "the totality of the evidence arouses a sufficient doubt on the [question whether grant of the application would serve the public interest] that further inquiry is called for." Citizens for Jazz on WRVR, Inc. v. FCC, 775 F.2d 392, 395 (D.C. Cir. 1985). In determining whether an allegation of news distortion raises a question about the licensee's ability to serve the public interest, the Commission analyzes both the substantial- ity and the materiality of the allegation. The Commission regards an allegation as material only if the licensee itself is said to have participated in, directed, or at least acquiesced in a pattern of news distortion. The Commission stated its policy about 30 years ago as follows: [W]e do not intend to defer action on license renewals because of the pendency of complaints of [news distor- tion]--unless the extrinsic evidence of possible deliberate distortion or staging of the news which is brought to our attention, involves the licensee, including its principals, top management, or news management.... [I]f the allegations of staging ... simply involve news employees of the station, we will, in appropriate cases ... inquire into the matter, but unless our investigation reveals involvement of the licensee or its management there will be no hazard to the station's licensed status.... .... Rather, the matter should be referred to the licensee for its own investigation and appropriate han- dling. .... Rigging or slanting the news is a most heinous act against the public interest .... [b]ut in this democra- cy, no Government agency can authenticate the news, or should try to do so. Hunger in America, 20 FCC 2d 143, 150, 151 (1969). In a footnote the Commission added: [W]e stress that the licensee must have a policy of requiring honesty of its news staff and must take reason- able precautions to see that news is fairly handled. An allegation of distortion is "substantial" when it meets two conditions, as we summarized in an earlier case. [F]irst, ... the distortion ... [must] be deliberately intended to slant or mislead. It is not enough to dispute the accuracy of a news report ... or to question the legitimate editorial decisions of the broadcaster.... The allegation of deliberate distortion must be supported by "extrinsic evidence," that is, evidence other than the broadcast itself, such as written or oral instructions from station management, outtakes, or evidence of bribery. Second, the distortion must involve a significant event and not merely a minor or incidental aspect of the news report.... [T]he Commission tolerates ... practices [such as staging and distortion] unless they "affect[ ] the basic accuracy of the events reported." Galloway v. FCC, 778 F.2d 16, 20 (D.C. Cir. 1985) (affirming Commission's holding that CBS's "60 Minutes" had not dis- torted news by staging insurance investigator's interrogation of fraudulent claimant; because she "actually did participate in the fraud and did confess, even if not in precisely the manner portrayed, the 'basic accuracy of the events reported' ... has not been distorted"). As we noted in Galloway, the Commission's policy makes its investigation of an allegation of news distortion "extremely limited [in] scope. But within the constraints of the Constitu- tion, Congress and the Commission may set the scope of broadcast regulation; it is not the role of this court to question the wisdom of their policy choices." Id. at 21. In 1994 CBS produced and broadcast a controversial seg- ment of "60 Minutes" entitled "The Ugly Face of Freedom," about modern Ukraine. The broadcast angered some viewers who believed that many elements of the program had been designed to give the impression that all Ukrainians harbor a strongly negative attitude toward Jews. For example, inter- viewer Morley Safer suggested that Ukrainians were "genet- ically anti-Semitic" and "uneducated peasants, deeply super- stitious." Also, soundbites from an interview with the Chief Rabbi of Lviv, Yaakov Bleich, gave viewers the impression that he believes all Ukrainians are anti-Semites who want all Jews to leave Ukraine. In addition, CBS overlaid the sound of marching boots on a film clip of Ukrainian Boy Scouts walking to church and introduced it in such a way as to give viewers the impression that they were seeing "a neo-Nazi, Hitler Youth-like movement." The narrator also stated that the Ukrainian Galicia Division had helped in the roundup and execution of Jews from Lviv in 1941, though this Division was not in fact even formed until 1943 and therefore could not possibly have participated in the deed. Perhaps most egre- giously, when Ukrainian speakers used the term "zhyd," which means simply "Jew," they were translated as having said "kike," which is a derogatory term. After the broadcast interviewees and members of the Ukrainian-American community deluged CBS with letters. In his letter Rabbi Bleich stated "unequivocally" that his "words were quoted out of the context that they were said" and that "the CBS broadcast was unbalanced" and "did not convey the true state of affairs in Ukraine." Cardinal Luba- chivsky, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, who had also been interviewed, both sent a letter to CBS and released a statement to the press. In the latter he stated, "[M]y office was misled as to the actual thrust of the report. Mr. Fager [the producer] presented the piece as one about 'post-communist Ukraine.' ... I can only deduce that the goal of the report was to present all Western Ukrainians as rabid anti-semites." Many other viewers pointed out histori- cal inaccuracies and offensive statements or characterizations in the show. Notwithstanding the requirement