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Article: Newsies' Iraq shock: Saddam's execution sends nets scrambling.
- Article from:
- Daily Variety
- Article date:
- January 2, 2007
- Author:
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The hanging of Saddam Hussein turned Friday night into a high-wire act for TV news as the networks raced to determine if the former dictator's sentence had been carried out and how much of it they should show.
The Iraqi government kept a tight lid on the proceedings alter Hussein was handed over from U.S. custody for execution, keeping the mostly Green Zone-bound U.S. correspondents in the dark and forcing American nets to rely heavily on Arab news sources for information.
Because of the secrecy, the networks had to wait as the information trickled out to Arabic-language sources while they struggled to confirm it. Shortly after 10 p.m., Fox News Channel, ...