By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 19, 2001; Page C01

The relentlessly replayed footage of the two hijacked planes crashing into the World Trade Center will all but disappear from one network.

ABC News President David Westin has told staffers that the network will no longer use the pictures of the attack, the resulting fireball or the collapse of the Twin Towers -- except in rare circumstances.

"I was concerned that it was becoming almost like wallpaper," Westin said in an interview yesterday after visiting the disaster site. "It's probably the most powerful image of our time. There's a temptation in television to always go to the most powerful image. But it was playing a lot. I was concerned not only for adults but for children."

Westin got the idea after hearing a psychiatrist say on a Peter Jennings special for children that some small kids believe each showing represents a new attack.

ABC will use still photographs of the attack if a story absolutely requires it, Westin said. As for the footage, he said, "I don't think it's necessary to tell the story. It's enough already."

Since the Sept. 11 attack, the networks have sparked complaints from some viewers by constantly recycling the horrifying footage for their opening logos, "bumpers" before breaks and split-screen replays while guests are being interviewed or officials holding news conferences. Again and again, from different angles, the planes have hit, the flames have erupted and the buildings have fallen down.

Fox News Senior Vice President John Moody said he asked his colleagues last Saturday to greatly limit use of the pictures. "By the weekend I felt we were nearing the line between editorially sound and unnecessarily ghoulish," Moody said. "It will be a piece of video, like the Challenger explosion, that is part of American history forever. But there's a point at which constant repetition loses its editorial underpinning."

The other networks are making no commitments. "As with all sensitive footage, we make our editorial decisions on a case-by-case basis," said CBS spokeswoman Sandy Genelius.

"We've cut back on our coverage of that footage dramatically," said NBC spokeswoman Barbara Levin. "If it's germane to the story we'll use it. But the story has moved on."

A CNN spokeswoman issued a statement saying that "CNN has cut back on our use of that video and will use it judiciously in the future."