It seems that we are imminently about receive the news that the former dictator of Iraq Saddam Hussein is about to be executed. BBC News amongst others are reporting that he may die within the next 24 hours. (Sat 30th December 2006)
This story will be not only be the most significant story of the year but is very likely to be the defining final chapter of Tony Blairs premiership. He is likely to step down within the next five months.
The continuing conflict will un-doubtedly continue for years to come, however this will be a definitive moment in our modern history.
I've opened this thread to discuss how the various news channels and domestic TV news respond to this event. It will be interesting to see how new channels react and report. In particular the newly launched
Aljazeera English
.
I have opened a poll to see your opinions on the decision of whether to broadcast the execution on British television.
I think its important that the execution is broadcast. As a deterrant to other terrorists, perhaps, as the government IS considering bringing in Islamic laws.
First of all, I can't imagine that it is going to be broadcast. Short of the fact that showing someone's death would no doubt flout various OFCOM regulations, any broadcaster in this country that did it would leave themselves open to the biggest backlash you will ever see.
It's just a different culture. While there's perhaps an argument that we shouldn't tone the news down because we don't give the full gravity of a situation, there's only so far you can go. As pointed out though, Al Jazeera English will be interesting, but I don't think they'll show it either.
I remember a case of a newspaper printing, in colour on the front page, a picture of a dead gran to try and reopen a case as to whether she died in an accident or whether she was killed. I thought that was wrong at the time, both in terms of taste and in terms of sales (the classic Rupert Murdoch 'stiffs don't sell papers' line comes to mind). But even that had more of a public interest defence than this.
If any pictures are made available they should show the preparation for the hanging, but they shouldn't in my opinion show the actual incident.
Incidentally, I think a few of the broadcasters need to check their fact v opinion bias today. Sky in particular has simply been reporting along the lines of 'the guy deserved it', that he provoked America and Britain into it, etc. They should be trying to remain as impartial as possible. We all know that Saddam is pretty damn evil, however some people also think this trial is a sham and the invasion is illegal. Their opinions should also be represented. Sky is veering dangerously close towards Fox-esque reporting at times.
Doubt it will be filmed at all, but if it is it will probably appear on YouTube before he's cold
News 24 were reporting this morning that it would be, but not that it would necessarily be released/broadcast. I'm not sure whether that's still the case. This is presumably the insurance policy in case people in Iraq don't believe he's dead.
If the footage is released, then we might see some of the pictures from immediately before, perhaps with a cut (eg to the outside of the building) or fade to black before the actual moment. I think a similar formula's been used for some of the deaths of soldiers, but I can't remember where exactly.
I wouldn't be surprised if some of it showed up in a documentary at some point, but don't think we'll see anything like the full thing in news bulletins - and rightly so.
It's true. The government has been in touch with Islamic Republics and are strongly considering sifting in some laws from those countries because of the overwhelming population of ethnic minorities in Britain.
