## Facts

- CBS aired a 1994 *60 Minutes* segment about Ukraine that petitioners claimed portrayed Ukrainians as broadly anti-Semitic and used misleading editing and translation.
- Members of the Ukrainian-American community filed a petition under 47 U.S.C. § 309(d) to deny, or designate for hearing, CBS’s application for a new station license, alleging intentional news distortion reflecting poor licensee character.
- Petitioners submitted a tape/transcript of the broadcast, viewer letters, and materials alleging (among other things) mistranslation of a Ukrainian term for “Jew” as a slur and selective editing and omission of contextual facts.
- Petitioners also sought revocation of certain CBS licenses, alleging CBS caused false information to reach the FCC through an affiliate’s communication that CBS had answered all viewer letters about the segment.
- The FCC summarily denied the distortion-based petition without a hearing, concluding petitioners did not submit enough evidence to warrant one.
- The FCC also denied the revocation petitions, concluding petitioners failed to allege that CBS intentionally misrepresented information to the FCC.
- Petitioners sought review in the D.C. Circuit; CBS and its corporate parent intervened.

## Issues

1. Whether the FCC lawfully denied, without a hearing, the § 309(d) petition challenging CBS’s license application based on alleged intentional news distortion, including whether the FCC applied the correct “substantial and material question of fact” standard and gave a reasoned explanation.
2. Whether the FCC reasonably denied petitions to revoke CBS licenses for alleged misrepresentation where the alleged false statement was not pled as an intentional deception directed to the FCC.

## Decision

- The court vacated and remanded the FCC’s denial of the petition to deny or designate CBS’s license application for hearing.
- The court held the FCC failed to apply the proper § 309(d) threshold inquiry and did not provide a reasoned explanation addressing petitioners’ specific factual submissions.
- The court affirmed the FCC’s denial of the misrepresentation-based revocation petitions.
- The court held the FCC reasonably required allegations of knowing, intentional deception directed to the Commission, and found petitioners’ submissions did not meet that standard.

## Legal Principles

- Under 47 U.S.C. § 309(d), a petition must present specific factual allegations (supported by affidavits from persons with personal knowledge) showing a grant would be prima facie inconsistent with the public interest.
- If the petition and record raise a “substantial and material question of fact,” the FCC must designate the application for hearing; at the petition stage, the FCC may not demand conclusive proof on the merits.
- Intentional broadcast news distortion is a recognized ground for adverse licensing action, but the FCC must address materially supported allegations with reasoned decisionmaking consistent with its stated policies.
- License revocation for misrepresentation requires a showing of a knowing and intentional false statement (or intent to deceive) directed to the FCC; inaccurate statements conveyed indirectly, without pleaded intent to deceive the Commission, are insufficient.

## Conclusion

The D.C. Circuit required the FCC to reassess the distortion-based challenge to CBS’s license application under the correct § 309(d) hearing standard with a reasoned explanation, but it upheld the FCC’s refusal to revoke licenses where petitioners did not allege intentional deception aimed at the Commission.


Serafyn v. FCC, 149 F.3d 1213 (D.C. Cir. 1998)