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Television stations around the world have broadcast footage of the ousted Iraqi dictator being placed in a noose by masked hangmen, cutting away just before his execution.
Television news executives faced a quandary over whether to break a taboo against airing footage of executions should video of Saddam Hussein's hanging become available.
The 69-year-old leader appeared calm, chatting to his burly, leather-jacketed executioners as they wrapped his neck first in black cloth then a thick hemp rope and steered him forward on a metal platform.
The footage did not show the actual moment of the hanging or pictures of his body.
It was shown on Iraqi state television and Dubai-based Al Arabiya television, as well as on international television networks including CNN, BBC World and Fox News.
TVNZ news chief Bill Ralston says they are not interested in showing people die and they would not show the actual execution.
TV3's head of News and Current affairs Mark Jennings says it would be irresponsible to broadcast it. He says broadcasters worldwide could not responsibly show Saddam dying.
Both Ralston and Jennings confirmed images leading up to his death may be played if they become available.
As of Friday evening, two major broadcast networks - ABC and NBC - as well as cable news outlets CNN and Fox News Channel - said they would wait to see what images of Saddam's execution, if any, surface before deciding whether and how to use them.
All said they would break into regular programming with special coverage when they confirmed the former Iraqi leader was dead, although none contemplated any live pictures from the hanging.
CBS appeared to be the most reluctant of the networks to take the unprecedented step of broadcasting video footage of an execution on television in the United States, a country where 53 people were put to death in 2006 alone.
CBS News Vice President Paul Friedman all but ruled out showing footage of Saddam's hanging, saying, "I personally believe it is beyond the pale to show executions."
"I would not want to see moving pictures of the actual moment of Saddam Hussein's death, or anyone else's," Friedman told Reuters, adding, "It's likely we'll use some combination of moving pictures to a certain point, and then stills."
He said one possible scenario would be to show Saddam arriving at the gallows or being prepared for execution, followed by still photographs taken of the body after the hanging.
Phil Alongi, executive producer of special events for NBC News, said the broadcast of execution footage would depend on "what this video looks like" and whether "there is any editorial value to it."
Iraqi officials told Reuters that Saddam Hussein would hang at dawn local time on Saturday. Saddam ruled Iraq by fear for three decades before a US invasion and his conviction for crimes against humanity.
A number of media outlets have reported the Iraqi government planned to videotape the hanging but it was not clear whether those pictures would be broadcast or otherwise made public.
If footage is taken of the hanging, "there's no question in my mind that the entire video will get out at some point" and end up on the Internet, Friedman said.
According to entertainment and media trade publication The Hollywood Reporter, the Iraqi government on Tuesday released video of the hanging of 13 convicts.
The US military released graphic still photos of the bodies of Saddam's two sons in July 2003, and some of those images appeared on US television.
