Kurtz
12-29-2006, 10:38 PM
The apparently imminent execution of the deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein threw executives at television news organizations into hurried consultations today over how to handle pictures or video of the hanging.
Though it was not known whether images of the execution would be released, 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. “I think about that iconic image of Nicolae Ceausescu in Romania, lying literally in the gutter,” Mr. Capus said. “I want to do this with a measure of taste, but I don’t want to stand in the way of history.”
The cable news networks CNN and the Fox News Channel were less definitive about what limits they might not impose on any images of Mr. Hussein in death, saying they would decide after they saw what was available. (MSNBC, the cable channel owned by NBC, will follow the policies of NBC News.)
None of this means that the complete images of the hanging, should such video be taken by Iraqi authorities, will be unavailable. Executives throughout the television news business said they fully expect these images to turn up at least on Web sites.
“Somehow it will get out,” said Paul Friedman, vice president of CBS News. “That video is going to be available somewhere on some channel or some site.” Mr. Friedman said he had met with the CBS News staff working today and told them: “There will be a lot of pressure to use the pictures” of the actual hanging. But he added, “CBS will not show it, no matter what.”
Bob Murphy, the senior vice president of ABC News, said the network planned to interrupt whatever program was being broadcast to report the news of the execution in the form of a brief report. “I suspect there will be some form of video released that will confirm the death for the Iraqi people,” Mr. Murphy said. ABC will “fulfill our obligations as journalists in documenting the event,” he said. But he emphasized, “We will absolutely not go too far in showing graphic images. Taste and propriety are the two key guidelines.”
He also stressed 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,” Mr. Murphy said. “What is excluded for ABC News on television will be excluded for all ABC News outlets.”
Mr. Friedman said editors from CBS’s Web site had also been told that they would be under the same restrictions as the broadcast network. Mr. Capus also said the MSNBC Web site’s choices will be governed by what the network decides.
David Rhodes, the vice president of news for the leading all-news cable network, the Fox News Channel, said questions of what the network might show were “still hypothetical at this point.” He said of what the channel might eventually show: “If you could tell me exactly what we were going to get, I could give you an answer.”
As to whether the channel’s Web site might be able to show more images than what appeared on television, Mr. Rhodes said, “We haven’t had the discussion yet about whether we would be anything different on the Web site.”
CNN released only a statement saying, “We will make our final call once we see what the Iraqi government releases.”
Most of the news outlets cited decisions they made in the aftermath of the killing by U.S. troops of the two sons of Mr. Hussein. Mr. Murphy of ABC said that the network had shown still shots of the faces of the dead men but had excluded graphic video that showed multiple wounds on their bodies.
A spokeswoman for CNN, Laurie Goldberg, noted that questions were still being raised at the time about the identities of the sons, so more images were shown to make comparisons to previous pictures taken of them.
Still unclear was what other news and video outlets might do if they gain access to video images from the hanging. Representatives for the Arab news network Al Jazeera did not respond to messages. 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.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/29/business/media/29cnd-netw.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1167447796-zzc7LwJexVWg9xu9OAbs2w&oref=slogin
Though it was not known whether images of the execution would be released, 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. “I think about that iconic image of Nicolae Ceausescu in Romania, lying literally in the gutter,” Mr. Capus said. “I want to do this with a measure of taste, but I don’t want to stand in the way of history.”
The cable news networks CNN and the Fox News Channel were less definitive about what limits they might not impose on any images of Mr. Hussein in death, saying they would decide after they saw what was available. (MSNBC, the cable channel owned by NBC, will follow the policies of NBC News.)
None of this means that the complete images of the hanging, should such video be taken by Iraqi authorities, will be unavailable. Executives throughout the television news business said they fully expect these images to turn up at least on Web sites.
“Somehow it will get out,” said Paul Friedman, vice president of CBS News. “That video is going to be available somewhere on some channel or some site.” Mr. Friedman said he had met with the CBS News staff working today and told them: “There will be a lot of pressure to use the pictures” of the actual hanging. But he added, “CBS will not show it, no matter what.”
Bob Murphy, the senior vice president of ABC News, said the network planned to interrupt whatever program was being broadcast to report the news of the execution in the form of a brief report. “I suspect there will be some form of video released that will confirm the death for the Iraqi people,” Mr. Murphy said. ABC will “fulfill our obligations as journalists in documenting the event,” he said. But he emphasized, “We will absolutely not go too far in showing graphic images. Taste and propriety are the two key guidelines.”
He also stressed 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,” Mr. Murphy said. “What is excluded for ABC News on television will be excluded for all ABC News outlets.”
Mr. Friedman said editors from CBS’s Web site had also been told that they would be under the same restrictions as the broadcast network. Mr. Capus also said the MSNBC Web site’s choices will be governed by what the network decides.
David Rhodes, the vice president of news for the leading all-news cable network, the Fox News Channel, said questions of what the network might show were “still hypothetical at this point.” He said of what the channel might eventually show: “If you could tell me exactly what we were going to get, I could give you an answer.”
As to whether the channel’s Web site might be able to show more images than what appeared on television, Mr. Rhodes said, “We haven’t had the discussion yet about whether we would be anything different on the Web site.”
CNN released only a statement saying, “We will make our final call once we see what the Iraqi government releases.”
Most of the news outlets cited decisions they made in the aftermath of the killing by U.S. troops of the two sons of Mr. Hussein. Mr. Murphy of ABC said that the network had shown still shots of the faces of the dead men but had excluded graphic video that showed multiple wounds on their bodies.
A spokeswoman for CNN, Laurie Goldberg, noted that questions were still being raised at the time about the identities of the sons, so more images were shown to make comparisons to previous pictures taken of them.
Still unclear was what other news and video outlets might do if they gain access to video images from the hanging. Representatives for the Arab news network Al Jazeera did not respond to messages. 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.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/29/business/media/29cnd-netw.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1167447796-zzc7LwJexVWg9xu9OAbs2w&oref=slogin