It’s happened. Saddam has been executed. Gotta admit, I was shocked at the timing of it all…but then I guess there’s never a good time to hang a murderous dictator.

I’ve been at work all day, so haven’t been able to follow the coverage too much. What I did notice, though, from the Six O’Clock news, was the great care taken to ensure good reporting didn’t override good taste. In other words, how much of this execution should be shown?

Sadly I don’t have Al Jazeera back at home. I wonder if their content was any different from the BBC report, in which veteran reporter (and the receiver of Dave-Lee-worship) John Simpson uttered the words “we won’t show you any more footage” when it got to the, excuse me, exciting bit: the hanging itself.

I guess it was just right though. The vision of a man about to meet his death was harrowing to say the least. In this case at least, our own imaginations could never surpass what actually happened to Saddam today.

For the record – I don’t agree with the hanging. But that debate’s for another day…and another blog no doubt.

UPDATE:

I’ve changed my mind about the broadcast of the hanging footage.

2006 has been the year of the citizen journalist. This video* (of Saddam being executed) is the climax to a year where the public created the news in every sense of the word.

Many don’t agree with execution. I don’t. But I do think these clips should be seen. By shielding ourselves from images like this, we are shielding the reality. If it shocks us that much, and causes that much outrage, the question needs to be asked: should it have been done?

The clip signifies two contradicting triumphs of Cit-journos. The quality is woeful. It’s shaky, grainy, dark – but yet, more real than any news footage could hope to be. Some media outlets haven’t embraced citizen journalism very well yet. Well it’s time they did.

Today’s events have made it more important than ever.

*WARNING: The video does show Saddam being executed. This isn’t the faded out version that was shown on the BBC/Sky etc today. You will see Saddam Hussein dying – view at your own risk. But please do.

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