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Video clips limited quandaries for media

By Associated Press
Published December 31, 2006

NEW YORK - With no actual video of Saddam Hussein's execution made immediately available Saturday, media outlets who showed the noose being placed around his neck were spared some of the tougher calls they had anticipated about what to air.

Video clips picked up from Iraqi state television early Saturday showed a black cloth being placed around Hussein's neck by men in black ski masks. They then placed a noose loosely around Hussein, who had refused an offer to wear a black hood.

A cruder video, which appeared to have been taken with a cell phone, showed Hussein draped in a white shroud, his neck turned at an unnatural angle. The shroud and part of his neck contained what appeared to be blood stains.

All of the footage was shown on Fox News Channel almost as quickly as it was captured by satellite and reviewed.

"Everyone was anticipating we would have a difficult decision to make," said David Rhodes, Fox vice president of news. "But when you consider what we and everyone else saw coming in, the pictures were fairly dramatic, but there was nothing we had to do" before televising it, he said.

Anderson Cooper repeatedly told CNN viewers after the execution was announced late Friday that video was expected soon and the network would be "very judicious" in how it was presented.

However, "there haven't been any tough decisions yet," CNN spokeswoman Laurie Goldberg said Saturday.

NBC News, both on the Saturday Today show and on the MSNBC cable channel until about midday, aired only video taken before Hussein was hanged. NBC News president Steve Capus then approved the use of one still photo of Hussein's body.

"I didn't want them to rush into it," Capus said. "I wanted them to be cautious. I didn't think there was anything to be gained by being first with the pictures of the body."

CBS News aired four separate images of Hussein's body on The Early Show. ABC, keeping in mind the hour of the day, decided to show only a still picture of the body, one without the blood stains.

"We decided to isolate a freeze frame that clearly identified it was him but didn't dwell on it and didn't have some of the more macabre aspects of his head," said Bob Murphy, ABC News senior vice president.

As the day went on, broadcasters faced a delicate issue: how or whether to mix in reports of Hussein's execution on Saturday evening while covering live services for the late President Gerald Ford.

Many news executives said they expect more footage of the execution to be released - they just don't know when or how much.

"It's inevitable that the footage of the actual execution will be released by somebody at some time, but we will not be running that," NBC's Capus said. "We don't have to show that to the world."

[Last modified December 31, 2006, 00:41:44]