This AP story (carried by CTV.ca) tells how U.S. newspapers are getting edgier in their visuals than television -- which must worry about offending people while being guests in their living room.

An excerpt:

Editors at the New York Times and Los Angeles Times showed similar judgment one day last week in running large, front-page pictures of tsunami victims. Faces of dead babies in makeshift morgues were clearly visible.

They were the type of images you were hard-pressed to see during hours of U.S. television coverage.

In a cataclysm notable for its staggering loss of life, U.S. television news was reluctant to convey that fact graphically.

The early days of coverage were dominated by video, much of it taken by amateurs, depicting the awesome spectacle of onrushing water. When professional TV crews arrived, the cameras focused mostly on the physical destruction -- buildings splintered, cars and boats flung along city streets.

When bodies were seen, they were mostly from a distance and usually covered up. From television's perspective, they didn't have a face.

"What you want to do is show the horrific nature of what happened but do it in a way that you don't cause disgust among the viewers, particularly during the dinner hour,'' said Chuck Lustig, who co-ordinated ABC News' coverage on World News Tonight and other broadcasts.