Telling the story of the carnage

The Red Cross, citing a network of volunteers, today said the death toll from the earthquake in Haiti is about 50,000. That number — and our relative inability to comprehend it — is putting news editors in a difficult position — whether and how to show images of the dead.

The morning network TV shows appear to have decided not to stray from the shots of its network anchors.

The Boston Globe’s Big Picture has compelling images here, and provides a warning for those that are the most graphic.

I’m doing the same for this picture from the Associated Press. Warning: It is quite graphic.

This audio slideshow from the Los Angeles Times doesn’t show any of the dead, but is still able to effectively convey the nightmare rescuers face.

The humanitarian effort took another bad turn within the last hour. At the request of the government of Haiti, all flights from the U.S. have been grounded. There’s no room at the destroyed airport for them to land, and there’s no fuel to get them back home.