Search Intensifies for Kidnapped Fox News Journalists
By John M. Higgins -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/16/2006 7:00:00 AM
Fox News secured meetings with top Palestinian officials to help to secure the release of a network correspondent and cameraman. Fox News' Jerusalem bureau chief, Eli Fastman, and chief Israeli correspondent Jennifer Griffin met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Tuesday.
The Associated Press reports that Palestinian security forces are hunting for correspondent Steve Centanni and freelance cameraman Olaf Wiig.
Former CNN executive Eason Jordan says that prodding government authorities to act is the most likely avenue for Fox News to secure the journalists' release. Jordan was, among other things was in charge of logistics for CNN's international crews and has started a consulting firm to for companies that have personnel deployed in war zones.
Once authorities identify which group kidnapped Centanni and Wiig, they can bring pressure to bear on the leadership to release the journalists, Jordan says.
Jordan notes that "Gaza is a very small place, there's not very many places to hide, not many secrets. And there's a lot of tipsters that can help to resolve things."
Fox News itself is keeping a low profile, reporting very little detail about the kidnapped journalist on its own air.
Gunmen abducted Centanni and Wiig Monday, using two vehicles to block Fox News’ vehicle -- clearly marked "TV". A masked man put a gun to the head of the crew’s bodyguard, then the kidnappers sped away with the two journalists.
Centanni has been with the network since it went on the air in 1996. His beats have included the Pentagon and the Supreme Court. He was embedded with a Navy Seal unit during the early day of the Iraqi war, and had covered military operations from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Wiig's, who hold a passport from New Zealand, has worked extensively in Auckland, New Zealand and London shooting for news and entertainment shows plus TV commercials.
Foreign journalists are, from time to time, kidnapped in Palestinian territory and generally released without serious injury; however, those abductions occurred before war broke out between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
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