Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Centanni and Wiig: Still Missing

Michelle Malkin has organized an effort to draw attention to kidnapped FOX News reporter Steve Centanni and freelance cameraman Olaf Wiig, reminding their families that the men are not forgotten.

They were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip a week ago, yet many media outlets are choosing to ignore the story.

From The Financial Times:

An American and a New Zealander working for Fox News television were still missing in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, more than a week after they were seized by gunmen near Palestinian security headquarters.

Steve Centanni, a 60-year-old reporter, and Olaf Wiig, a 36-year-old New Zealand cameraman, have been missing longer than any of some two dozen foreigners previously abducted in Gaza, most of them in the past year. No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and no demand has been made for their release.

Peter Rider, a senior New Zealand diplomat who is in the region to help secure the men’s release, told New Zealand radio: “I think it’s premature to say that anybody has any direct information or direct lines of communication with the kidnappers.”

Past kidnappings of foreigners, usually journalists or aid workers, have been carried out by armed groups settling private scores or trying to put pressure on the Palestinian Authority to release imprisoned relatives or supply government jobs.

The abductions have generally lasted from a few hours to a few days at most. The captives have invariably been well cared for and released unharmed.

Doesn't that sound like news to you?

The kidnapping of Centanni and Wiig is not following the usual pattern of abductions in Gaza. I think that's newworthy.

Mr Centanni and Mr Wiig were snatched when masked gunmen in two trucks surrounded their vehicle, which bore TV stickers, while it was parked near the PA security headquarters on August 14.

All the main factions in Gaza, who have been contacted by Fox executives and diplomats, have condemned the kidnapping. They included the Fatah party of President Mahmoud Abbas, the ruling Hamas party and the more radical Islamic Jihad. PA security forces are involved in the hunt for the two men.

“This is the first time the kidnappers haven’t identified themselves or their demands,” said a Palestinian security official. “Usually kidnappers announce who they are, sometimes as soon as they kidnap.”

Anita McNaught, Mr Wiig’s wife and a British broadcaster, made a televised appeal in which she said: “He and his colleague, Steve, don’t deserve this. They are good men and they should be allowed to come home.”

Michelle Malkin has posted a comment that appears on Poynter Online, from TV critic Bob Laurence.

Laurence gives his take on why the kidnapping of Centanni and Wiig is receiving little attention.

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.

What a bitter man!

What a complete lack of compassion!

Laurence is a disgrace. He exhibits no human decency whatsoever. He owes the families of Centanni and Wiig an apology. I doubt that one will be coming.

Unlike those on the hateful hard Left, I encourage you to keep the kidnapped men and their loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.


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Read Wizard's post on the lib media's bias in reporting on the kidnapped FOX News crew compared to the coverage they devote to other hostages.

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