No apology from WHO-TV

Friday, WHO-TV responded to Iowa athletics director Gary Barta's request for an apology on a piece that lampooned Iowa basketball player John Lickliter.

"No, we did not apologize," Dale Woods, WHO-TV president and general manager, told The Gazette on Friday morning.

On Thursday, Barta asked WHO, the NBC affiliate in Des Moines, for an apology after a piece it ran during its "SoundOFF" program last Sunday night. The 59-second clip, produced by WHO sports reporter Chris Hassel, satirized Lickliter, a walk-on guard and son of Hawkeyes men's basketball coach Todd Lickliter.

It was a fake movie trailer for "Little Lick, Lotta Bite," with fake quotes praising the movie, including one from critic Roger Ebert that said, "It's like 'Rudy,' sans the happy ending."

Barta didn't find humor in the clip.

“I'm going to stand on my feeling that it crossed a line,” Barta said Thursday night. “It called out a student-athlete who didn't deserve it. It's one thing if we're struggling and there's something wrong and someone needs to report on it and if someone wants to get creative and call out me or call out our coaching staff, that's one thing. But when it goes into highly criticizing a student-athlete, to me that's just crossing the line.”

Woods put the piece in context for those in eastern Iowa who don't see the "SoundOFF," a satirical mix of sports, humor and popular culture that has run after WHO's Sunday night newscast for 14 years.

"The segment that they are referring to aired in our sports 'SoundOFF' show, which is entertainment programming, not news programming," Woods said. "It's intended to be satirical and filled with humor, just as that skit there was, it was a make-believe movie. So, it was not intended to be news.

"It's no different than when (NBC news anchor) Brian Williams goes on 'Saturday Night Live' and makes fun out of Obama. That's not news, it's in the environment of entertainment programming."

WHO sports director Keith Murphy produces the show along with anchor/reporter Andy Fales. Murphy responded to Iowa's request for an apology on his blog, Murphy's Law.

"University of Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta asked WHO-TV to apologize for Chris Hassel's controversial John Lickliter spoof Sunday Night on 'SoundOFF,' " Murphy writes. "I respect Mr. Barta's decision to stand up for one of his, just as we stand by one of ours. Hawkeye fans should think more of Barta for doing this, not less." 

Murphy also wrote that the Lickliter piece made him "uncomfortable." Hassel's pieces for "SoundOFF" have run without Murphy's review beforehand for an honest response from Murphy and Fales, who co-host the show. That will no longer be the case, Murphy wrote.

Murphy also wrote, "If Chris wants to sincerely apologize, either publicly or privately, we certainly support that. We will not force him to do it, for that would accomplish little." 

Woods said Friday he responded to Barta, who then responded in an e-mail. Woods didn't discuss the content.

"Unfortunately for most people in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, all they see is a minute of that," Woods said. "They don't see what happened in the show before that aired or after. That's OK. They've probably have never seen the 'SoundOFF' show and that's OK. That's a little frustrating. You feel as though you're having a conversation with someone who's never been exposed to the show.

"It's a light-hearted entertainment show, intended to be satirical and filled with humor."

Woods emphasized that the piece, or any "SoundOFF" piece, wasn't part of WHO's newscast.

He added that "SoundOFF" ran a similar skit this fall on Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi and his rash of interceptions. 

"No one had a problem with it," Woods said.

Woods said the viewer reaction to the John Lickliter spoof has been supportive of the station.

"You would be surprised with the amount of e-mails that are supportive and think it was funny," Woods said. "It exceeds those that are upset. The people who know the show, know that."