TON HERALD TR

The United States Supreme Court yesterday failed to grant the Boston Herald-Traveler Corporation a temporary stay on the FCC order to turn over the television facilities of Channel 5 to Boston Broadcasters, Inc.

In addition to the TV station, the corporation owns the Boston Herald-Traveler. Earlier in the week Harold Clancy, president of the corporation, said if the station, WHDH-TV, were lost that, "in my opinion the paper wouldn't survive."

In a statement issued yesterday to the Herald-Traveler's city news staff, editor John R. Herbert said that publication of the newspaper would continue as management attempts to "explore alternatives," looking for a settlement acceptable to both stockholders and employees.

The FCC, after issuing the Herald-Traveler a temporary permit to operate the TV station in 1957, reversed itself years later in part because of its policy to separate the ownership of newspapers and TV stations.

The Greater Boston Labor Council, AFL-CIO, supported the Herald-Traveler Corporation's plea for a temporary stay, arguing that about 2500 Herald-Traveler newspaper employees would be forced out of work, and that many might also lose their retirement benefits.