Video of Kidnapped Fox Reporters Released
Charles Johnson
Wed Aug 23, 2006 at 8:17 am PDT • Views: 291
The Palestinian group that kidnapped Fox News reporter Steve Centanni and cameraman Olaf Wiig has issued their demands, and a video of the hostages.
TV critic Bob Laurence of the San Diego Union-Tribune says Centanni and Wiig deserved to be kidnapped because they worked for Fox, and they shouldn’t expect any sympathy from other media: Poynter Online - Forums.
I’d like to offer a couple of possible reasons for the lack of attention given to the kidnapping of the two guys from Fox:
One is that, sadly, they are far from the first to be kidnapped, injured or killed. They are, alas, only the most recent two of many. The kidnapping or targeting of journalists in Iraq isn’t the story it once was.
Second, Fox has deliberately set itself apart from other news media. Starting at the top with Roger Ailes, the Fox sales pitch has been to deride other media, to declare itself the one source of the real truth, the sole source of ‘fair and accurate’ news reporting. As a result, there’s not a reservoir of kinship or good will with Fox on the part of the rest of the news media. You can’t keep insulting people and then expect friendship when you need it.
They’ve made it a policy to keep a distance between themselves and the rest of the media, far beyond the usual competitive spirit, so that’s where they are: at a distance.
UPDATE at 8/23/06 9:10:44 am:
Missed it yesterday, but Michelle Malkin was all over the story, including more about Bob Laurence’s lack of humanity: Missing Fox News crew: Blogburst.
Frank says: