Huskies, Media Caught in Mess : Football: Story on Washington players’ tiffs with the law suppressed by TV station, then broadcast. Reporter resigns, city of Seattle is in a buzz.

SEATTLE —  Belatedly and with uncommon anguish, a television station Wednesday night identified five members of the Rose Bowl-bound Washington Huskies as scofflaws who are facing current arrest warrants.

The university responded by saying it told the athletes to attend to their legal problems, but it also assured them that no one would be ruled ineligible for the Rose Bowl.

The investigative disclosure by KIRO-TV came only after the passing of a few days in which the First Amendment locked horns with rampant “Husky Fever” in Seattle, stirring up curious results . . .

The story first was postponed, then killed by the station’s chief executive officer. But then, unexpectedly, it was resurrected and broadcast when a station news committee, whose members include its weatherman, deemed it worthy.

In the wake of all this, one of the leading TV journalists in the city resigned in angry protest over the story being killed for the sake of civic boosterism. Later, his story ran.

So, rather than simply enjoy itself now that its 11-0 Huskies are ranked No. 2 nationally and bound for Pasadena, the city of Seattle found itself uncomfortably cast as a community not quite sure of its footing. Is it a big league city with hard-hitting journalism to match its hard-hitting college football? Or is it a self-conscious small town that needs the nurturing of civic boosterism?

According to the KIRO report Wednesday night, five Husky players are wanted by authorities for a range of violations, including two serious crimes:

--Star cornerback Dana Hall is wanted on a $1,500 bench warrant for driving without a license.

--Tight end Aaron Pierce is wanted for an appearance in connection with charges of assault, resisting arrest and criminal trespass.

--Guard Tyrone Rodgers was wanted in connection with nonpayment of restitution in an assault case.

--Cornerback Darran Harrell and fullback Darius Turner were wanted on minor traffic offenses.

Hall, from Diamond Bar and Ganesha High, scored the first touchdown in last year’s Rose Bowl on a 27-yard return of a blocked punt. Pierce, from Seattle, was a Rose Bowl starter and won last year’s “Tough Husky” Award. Rodgers is from Carson High and Turner, the star blocking fullback for All-American Greg Lewis last season, is from Gardena and attended Warren High in Downey. Harrell is a walk-on.

Late Wednesday, Washington Athletic Director Barbara Hedges issued a statement in which she said none of the legal troubles occurred during the football season. Hedges, in her first year at Washington after many years as associate athletic director at USC, added: “We hope that this outstanding season is not adversely affected by this information.”

The statement said no university or NCAA rules were broken by the players and no team member’s eligibility for the Rose Bowl would be affected. Washington will play Michigan Jan. 1 in Pasadena.

James Collier, vice president for university relations, said the players have been instructed to lift the warrants as soon as possible by paying their fines or appearing in court and pleading not guilty.

As strange as the story itself was its history--and its impact on Seattle.

Last Saturday, just before the Huskies took to their home field to play Washington State, KIRO postponed showing the investigative story, fearing the effect it might have on viewers and the game--including the possible arrest of the players--according to a source at the station.

Then, unexpectedly Tuesday, Ken Hatch, the president and chief executive of the station, ordered the story shelved permanently.

“It was a sensational story,” he said. “It was thin. All it was was a great big embarrassment to a proud institution and a great football team at a time when we should be cheering them on. That is my view.”

Having made that judgment, Hatch then met privately with university officials and shared with them the details of the story that he was suppressing, including names of the athletes for whom there were warrants.

On that information, the university said it urged the players to clear up their records.

By then, Hatch was engulfed in a citywide controversy, openly criticized by commentators on his own station and by columnists in the local newspapers. The station’s top investigative reporter and the correspondent on the Husky story, Mark Sauter, son of Van Gordon Sauter, former CBS news president, resigned Tuesday night, saying the station’s news had been compromised.

Hatch, insisting he was not backing down in the face of the furor, later Wednesday called together the station’s news executive committee, which includes editors, key anchors and the weatherman. Amid all the controversy and knowing that the outline of the story already was published in many newspapers, the committee voted to air the story after all, according to News Director John Lippman.

Later Wednesday night, Sauter said he would stick to his decision, even though the story had run. He called the station’s decision to eventually go with the story: “PR damage control.”

Seattle newspapers, which took potshots at KIRO-TV’s action in Wednesday’s editions, did not escape the pre-bowl fracas unscathed, either.

Last week, news columnist Eric Lacitas of the Seattle Times urged readers to send faxed messages to the 60 sportswriters around the country who vote in the Associated Press national poll of college football teams. Lacitas urged that the faxes encourage the writers to cast their votes for Washington as No. 1. Reaction from some of the voting sportswriters was anger.