Will Newspapers Show Photos of Saddam Hanging?
By E&P Staff
Published: December 29, 2006 6:40 PM ET
NEW YORK With the videotaped execution of Iraq's Saddam Hussein at hand, TV executives in the U.S. debated what, if anything, to show of the act. Newspaper and online editors faced the same decisions, as video and photos are certain to be aired in Iraq and on the Web.
When al-Qaeda leader Zarqawi was killed earlier this year, many newspapers showed close up images of his corpse and battered face on their front pages, drawing some complaints.
The New York Times reported this afternoon that "the news divisions at ABC and CBS said that, should video become available, they will show some visual documentation of Saddam’s death but will not use overly graphic images or show complete execution.
"NBC News, however, indicated it might go further. Steve Capus, the president of NBC News, said that network may show 'a wide shot of Saddam hanging.' He said NBC would make its decision based on questions both of taste and of history. 'I think it might be appropriate at some point to see an image of Saddam after he is hanged,' Mr. Capus said, citing previous historic images of dictators who had been killed."
Bob Murphy, the senior vice president of ABC News, told the Times that it planned to interrupt whatever program was being broadcast to report the news of the execution in the form of a brief report.
He added that ABC News will not allow its Web site to show anything more than what is permitted on television. “The decision will be for all of ABC News,” Murphy told the Times. “What is excluded for ABC News on television will be excluded for all ABC News outlets.”
The Times report concluded: "And a representative from YouTube did not respond to questions about the policy of that popular video site, which has previously offered videos with graphic battle footage from Iraq."
In a statement delivered with no apparent irony, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said, "Our respect for human rights requires us to execute him."
Earlier Friday, in an editorial, The New York Times observed, "This week began with a story of British and Iraqi soldiers storming a police station that hid a secret dungeon in Basra. More than 100 men, many of them viciously tortured, were rescued from almost certain execution. It might have been a story from the final days of Baathist rule in March 2003, when British and American troops entered Basra believing they were liberating the subjugated Shiite south. But it was December 2006, and the wretched men being liberated were prisoners of the new Iraqi Shiite authorities.
"Toppling Saddam Hussein did not automatically create a new and better Iraq. Executing him won’t either."
By E&P Staff
Published: December 29, 2006 6:40 PM ET
NEW YORK With the videotaped execution of Iraq's Saddam Hussein at hand, TV executives in the U.S. debated what, if anything, to show of the act. Newspaper and online editors faced the same decisions, as video and photos are certain to be aired in Iraq and on the Web.
When al-Qaeda leader Zarqawi was killed earlier this year, many newspapers showed close up images of his corpse and battered face on their front pages, drawing some complaints.
The New York Times reported this afternoon that "the news divisions at ABC and CBS said that, should video become available, they will show some visual documentation of Saddam’s death but will not use overly graphic images or show complete execution.
"NBC News, however, indicated it might go further. Steve Capus, the president of NBC News, said that network may show 'a wide shot of Saddam hanging.' He said NBC would make its decision based on questions both of taste and of history. 'I think it might be appropriate at some point to see an image of Saddam after he is hanged,' Mr. Capus said, citing previous historic images of dictators who had been killed."
Bob Murphy, the senior vice president of ABC News, told the Times that it planned to interrupt whatever program was being broadcast to report the news of the execution in the form of a brief report.
He added that ABC News will not allow its Web site to show anything more than what is permitted on television. “The decision will be for all of ABC News,” Murphy told the Times. “What is excluded for ABC News on television will be excluded for all ABC News outlets.”
The Times report concluded: "And a representative from YouTube did not respond to questions about the policy of that popular video site, which has previously offered videos with graphic battle footage from Iraq."
In a statement delivered with no apparent irony, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said, "Our respect for human rights requires us to execute him."
Earlier Friday, in an editorial, The New York Times observed, "This week began with a story of British and Iraqi soldiers storming a police station that hid a secret dungeon in Basra. More than 100 men, many of them viciously tortured, were rescued from almost certain execution. It might have been a story from the final days of Baathist rule in March 2003, when British and American troops entered Basra believing they were liberating the subjugated Shiite south. But it was December 2006, and the wretched men being liberated were prisoners of the new Iraqi Shiite authorities.
"Toppling Saddam Hussein did not automatically create a new and better Iraq. Executing him won’t either."
