ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 4, 1996 TAG: 9602060014
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL CARTER THE NEW YORK TIMES
THE NETWORK HOPES torepair damage it inflicted on its image by backing off from broadcasting the ``60 Minutes'' show.
The CBS News program ``60 Minutes'' will broadcast an interview tonight with the tobacco industry whistle-blower, Jeffrey Wigand, which was blocked for three months by the network's legal department. Inside the network, the sense of relief is all but palpable.
``This is a very, very important moment for CBS,'' said Andrew Heyward, the new president of CBS News.
Don Hewitt, the executive producer of ``60 Minutes,'' said: ``Are we happy this is finally getting on the air? Yes - and how.''
But the relief may not necessarily translate into instant redemption.
Some news executives, from both CBS and other networks, questioned whether the decision by CBS lawyers to bar ``60 Minutes'' from broadcasting the interview in November would do lasting damage to the reputations of CBS News and ``60 Minutes,'' the longest-running and most-honored news program in television history.
A senior executive who has worked for two network news divisions noted that CBS lawyers only decided to clear the original Wigand interview after The Wall Street Journal published a deposition by Wigand two weeks ago.
In written testimony in a Mississippi lawsuit, Wigand made essentially the same accusations against his former employers, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., that he made in the ``60 Minutes'' interview.
The executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, ``There may be people who say, the old `60 Minutes' would have put this on the first time around, and not waited until The Wall Street Journal made it safe.''
CBS management was still cautious last week about the decision to broadcast the interview. CBS President Peter Lund said that the network was pleased to be ``reporting this important story,'' noting that ``Jeffrey Wigand's sworn deposition is now a matter of public record.''
Hewitt praised Lund for ``taking the wraps off.'' He also praised new owner Westinghouse, which was in the process of acquiring CBS from chief shareholder Laurence Tisch when the decision to shelve the interview was made.
``There's some hope here now,'' Hewitt said. ``Before Westinghouse, it was devoid of hope.''
Hewitt said ``60 Minutes'' would broadcast the original interview ``virtually in its entirety.'' In the interview, Wigand, formerly head of research for Brown & Williamson, accuses company executives of everything from knowingly adding a cancer-causing ingredient to a pipe tobacco product to perjury at a congressional hearing.
Hewitt said the interview would be followed by a report that would examine what he called ``the smear campaign being waged by Brown & Williamson'' against Wigand. The latter report will include portions of a new interview by CBS correspondent Mike Wallace with Wigand.
Hewitt said he could not guess whether ``60 Minutes'' would be able to restore its image quickly, putting it this way: ``Would I like this all to be forgotten? Yes, of course. Will it be? That's up to the critics to decide.''
LENGTH: Medium: 61 linesby CNB