The ABC's of Kidnapping

I continue to be very concerned about the kidnapping of the FOX NEWS team of Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig in Palestine last Monday, August 14, 2006. There has been precious little news and it seems like even less outrage.

In Kidnapping. The Pajamahadeen Rejoice I wrote about the bizarre and terribly disappointing outburst from the left that seemed to revel in the kidnapping of "FOX NEWS" reporters. Many left bloggers and blog commentators actually encouraged the murder of these two journalists and even went so far as to suggest other FOX employees be harmed as well!

In posts yesterday and today Michelle Malkin points out the virtual news blackout of this horrific event. Malkin wonders why. So do I.

FOX themselves are being very quiet. Perhaps it's because of "behind the scenes negotiations."

But perhaps there is a bigger issue. Perhaps the boiling hatred of "FAUX NEWS" among the left wing pajamahadeen is merely the vocal and visible part of a much larger sentiment on the part of liberals and even other journalists.

There sure was a ton of coverage when Christian Science Monitor reporter Jill Carroll was kidnapped. And FOX NEWS led the way in covering that story.

But the MSM is MIA on FOX.

The journalist teaching forum, Poynter Online, has a letter supposedly written by television critic Bob Laurence of the San Diego Union Tribune. I hate unverifiable sources and normally wouldn't use one. I'm hoping Laurence didn't actually write this, but I fear that it might actually reflect the sentiment of the larger journalistic community:

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.

Can you possibly imaging the outrage if a similar comment was made about a "race" such as blacks or latinos? Can you imagine the protest if a similar comment was made about women, or gays, or Muslims?

A reporter that dared write "We don't need to cover a kidnapping of a gay person because they set themselves apart from the rest of society," would never find employment again.

Michelle has asked the blogosphere to take a few minutes today and add posts that might bring more attention to the kidnapping. I think it's a good idea.

Centanni and Wiig deserve this and much more. For they are victims of two hate crimes. They are victims of the Palestinians that kidnapped them and they are victims of the far left fanatics who seem to think their lives, liberty and freedom are worth a whole lot less than those of "real journalists."

TECHNORATI TAGS: PAJAMAHADEEN HATE SPEECH BLOGGERS BLOGS STEVE CENTANNI FOX NEWS MICHELLE MALKIN OLAF WIIG BOB LAURENCE


DIGG THIS

SAVE THIS PAGE TO del.icio.us