CNN Shows Burned Bodies Hung From Bridge
CNN aired a report from Walter Rodgers during both the 7 and 8pm hours. The package showed the two bodies hanging from the bridge for a few seconds. The bodies were also partially visible in two other shots. "There is much more we will not show, but we believe some images are necessary to fully illustrate the extent of the violence," Rodgers said...

Web Site Contrast: CNN.com, MSNBC.com Show Bodies Behind 'Warning'
CNN.com and MSNBC.com both show a photo of the hung bodies. Neither site shows the AP's most graphic images (published this morning but no longer accessible via Yahoo) of the bodies being mutilated by Iraqis. MSNBC.com's photo is larger and more gruesome than CNN.com's. Both sites warn visitors of the graphic content -- the photos must be actively clicked on before bodies are visible. FOXNews.com only shows two images, both of the burning vehicle.

Attacks Impact the Media: Covering Iraq Becomes More Challenging
MSNBC.com's video from Newsweek's Rod Nordland is very interesting. He discusses media reaction to today's attack: "I don't think more journalists will pull out as a result of this, not yet anyway. But what is already happening, and will be hastened by the Fallujah incident, is that there are increasingly greater and greater areas into which we don't go anymore. Or if we go there, we go under very strictly controlled circumstances, or with the military, so a very large part of the Iraqi picture is getting much harder for us to cover."

International TV Coverage of Massacre Varies
A second AP story describes international coverage: "In London, Channel 4 News broadcast an electronically blurred body being dragged through the street. In Paris, LCI television station showed the footage of the bodies without blurring them. In Germany, ZDF News showed riot scenes but not any bodies." Al Jazeera reportedly aired the raw video // Also: Howard Fineman says the web helped force the images into the spotlight...

FOX Extensively Edits Fallujah Tape
The Associated Press puts it this way: "Macabre images of four American contractors killed in Iraq filled television screens worldwide Wednesday but were largely shunned by American television that deemed them too graphic." They quote FOX VP Bill Shine: "We have no plans to show more graphic footage. We made the call that it was too graphic in nature to put on our air."

Balancing Act: Showing Fallujah Horror Vs. "Cleaning It Up"
FOX already has put together graphics for it: "Outrage in Fallujah," they say. On the FOX Report, Shep pointed out that we know about the "disgusting display" because "broadcast news crews videotaped it all." So it raises questions of how much of the video should be broadcast. "One of the ongoing issues today is how much of the scene do we need to show to make the point?," Aaron Brown writes in his Newsnight newsletter. "There is a balance between showing every horrible frame and 'cleaning' it up too much. All of us are working to find that balance tonight." Personally, if I hadn't viewed the AP photos of charred bodies this morning, this story wouldn't have such an impact. But that's just my journalistic desensitivity...

Kevin Sites Says Some Pics Are "Too Hard To Stomach At Dinnertime"
As news orgs determine how much is too much in Fallujah, MSNBC's Kevin Sites addresses similar issues on his personal blog. He publishes "extremely graphic" photos of the injuries an ABC News cameraman sustained in Iraq. "The pictures are painful to look at...but they are, I know, the ugly reality of what happens when bullets meet bodies. These days it's difficult to show casualties of war on evening newscasts or in any American media outlets. The images become politically charged; take on meaning beyond their face value. But more often than not, the violence is just too grim, too hard to stomach at dinnertime. So the question becomes this; how can those who haven't seen it--begin to understand the truth of Omar's arm?"

Counting Down One Year Of 'Countdown'
Countdown is celebrating its 365th day on the air tonight. (That's quite an accomplishment for an MSNBC primetime show!) "Not wanting to take ourselves too seriously, we have the 'Count' from Sesame Street joining us to celebrate," the newsletter said today. "Lets hope he lasts so next year he can have a 2 year anniversary!," an MSN poster says. Hopefully Keith will stick around that long!

CNN Newsource Revises VNR Policy
'CNN Cracks Down - on CNN' is the headline on a Campaign Desk story today: "CNN has made three changes to the way its Newsource service, which provides footage to local stations, handles VNRs." VNRs will now appear under their own heading, their producers will be clearly identified, and stations will be able to opt out of receiving them.

Ed Henry: Starting At CNN In Mid-April
CNN officially announced the hiring of Roll Call editor Ed Henry today. He starts work at CNN in mid-April. "Ed is perhaps the most plugged-in person on all of Capitol Hill," David Bohrman said. "The team of Ed and Joe Johns gives CNN the finest team of congressional correspondents in television news. We are glad to welcome him to CNN."

"Shep just keeps talking and talking and talking"
DCRTV Dave got sick of watching the same facts repeated over and over again today: "Shep just keeps talking and talking and talking. Saying the same sh*t over and over and over and over. Further proof that cable news its completely nutz..." But I bet you'll keep watching!

Audrey Gets The Full Cable News Treatment
Audrey dominated cable news this afternoon -- and into this evening. Crossfire was postponed today (they had planned to interview Al Franken). Your World was delayed, too. Kudos to CNN for pulling the "just in" banner off after just 90 minutes. The channel put the girl's photo in the corner of the screen -- a bit strange, eh? MSNBC had trouble getting video at first -- while CNN and FOX aired helicopter shots from a local affiliate, MS had to rely on the chopper-less local NBC channel...

Alerts, Flashes, and Just-Ins
The cable nets went wild when Audrey Seiler was found alive this afternoon. They aired live shots from a chopper hovering over the scene. CNN pre-empted Inside Politics (again!) to offer continuing coverage. They scrambled to get police and university representatives on the phone...

"Wall Street was riveted" by Maria Bartiromo's Bangs
What has this site turned into? Two romantic couplings, now a story about Maria Bartiromo's bangs. "She wore her hair normal in the morning, but "after lunch, when she appeared on 'Closing Bell'...it was a whole new 'do. Suddenly there were bangs. Bangs down to her well-plucked eyebrows. Wall Street was riveted - and then bullish - on Bartiromo's bangs. Immediately the market started to climb. Since Bartiromo got her bangs, the Dow has risen a net 42 points - the result so far at yesterday's closing." More in the Daily News...

Dan Abrams Dates Law & Order Star
MSNBC legal guru Dan Abrams is dating Law & Order star Elisabeth Rohm," Lloyd Grove says. "He's a lawyer and she plays one on TV," Grove writes. And the headline writers had fun, calling it a "a serious court-ship."

Eason Jordan and Mariane Pearl's Romance?
The Reliable Source column must have some really reliable sources: "Eason Jordan, a CNN news exec who was deeply involved in the network's coverage of the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Danny Pearl, is now romantically involved with Pearl's widow, Mariane, people familiar with the relationship told us yesterday," Richard Leiby writes. Eason has been married for 16 years, and his wife had no comment...