TV Networks Edit Bloody Attack

American television networks were forced to make delicate decisions about the use of video footage of Middle East violence Thursday.

CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel repeatedly aired footage of a Palestinian mob that attacked and killed three Israeli soldiers. While the scenes depicted a violent attack, what they were attacking was never made clear.

Italy’s Mediaset TV aired striking pictures that showed the body of one of the soldiers dangling upside down and then dropped from a window, where the mob stomped and beat the corpse.

A body was not visible in video clips aired by several American networks, but the crowd can be seen beating something. CNN aired footage that focuses on blood stains.

“The footage, while difficult, tells an important story,” said ABC spokesman Jeff Schneider.

John Moody, Fox News Channel’s vice president of news and editorial quality, said that while the footage was “very disturbing, it was not offensively disturbing.”