About Contact Archives RSS Columns Photos

Fox News’ Steve Centanni and Cameraman Kidnapped in Gaza

By Mary Katharine Ham  •  August 14, 2006 02:55 PM

I haven’t heard Fox report on it yet, but Drudge links this story:

Palestinian gunmen ambushed a car carrying a Fox News crew in Gaza City on Monday and kidnapped two of the journalists inside, according to witnesses and Fox. “We can confirm that two of our people were taken against their will in Gaza,” Fox News said in a statement.

A Fox employee in Gaza, who declined to give his name because he was not authorized to release information about the incident, said the two kidnapped people were reporter Steve Centanni, a U.S. citizen, and a cameraman from New Zealand.

The men, along with a bodyguard, were parked near the headquarters of the Palestinian security services when two trucks filled with gunmen pulled up and boxed them in, according to the employee. The gunmen took the two out of their sports utility vehicle, which was marked “TV,” and drove away, he said.

Major militant groups in Gaza denied having any connection to the abduction, and there was no immediate word of any demands made.

Here’s Centanni’s bio:

In July 2003, Centanni was the first television network reporter to provide on-site reports from the building where Uday and Qusay Hussein were killed after a gun battle with the 101st Airborne Division. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Centanni served as an embedded journalist with the Navy SEAL’s and provided numerous first reports for the network, including a report that the U.S. had captured two main offshore oil terminals located 22 miles off Iraq’s southern coast, preventing them from being blown up by the Iraqis.

Previously, while covering the War on Terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Centanni was first to report the fall of the Taliban in their final stronghold of Kandahar. During Operation Enduring Freedom, he reported on U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, the new interim government in Kabul and hostilities between Pakistani and Indian troops along the frontlines in Kashmir. Currently, Centanni is covering the crisis in Iraq and is stationed in Doha, Qatar.

And, his Talking Heads page. Praying he and his cameraman stay safe.

Update: Fox critics at Newshound send classy wishes for a speedy return, but Flopping Aces finds the predictably disgusting at DU.

How much do we have to pay to get the Palestinians to keep them?

Click over for more, if you can stomach it. They’re wishing for it to be certain anchors. Geraldo comes up, as do E.D. Hill and Hannity. The sane folks who offer prayers for the kidnapped are told to, um, grow a pair.

Jed Babbin wrote on Centanni’s exploits in 2003:

It’s time for me to admit something. I’d give significant parts of my anatomy to change places with a young guy named Steve Centanni. He’s a Fox News reporter embedded with the Navy SEALs, running up and down Iraq with some of the smartest, toughest and most skilled adrenaline junkies in the history of warfare. Ok, ok. I couldn’t keep up with them at my age. But I’d die before I’d wimp out in the company of those guys. It’d be worth it.

That may help you place him, if you haven’t already. Allah, I’m sure, will have updates.

Update: Drudge names the freelance cameraman– Olaf Wiig.

This appears to be Wiig’s website. He looks to have been doing documentaries, kids’ TV, and news footage since the ’90s. Wiig, according to Wikipedia (and his own website’s photo gallery), is dating BBC newscaster Anita McKnaught. Another name for your prayers.

Update: From the Reuters story, a little more detail:

A Fox news report said the network did not know who had seized them but that “negotiations were under way to secure their release”…

The witness said two vehicles blocked the journalists’ transmission truck in the center of Gaza City and a masked man put a gun to a bodyguard’s head, forcing him to the ground.

I still haven’t heard or seen anything on Fox about it, but I did walk away from the TV for a bit.

Update 6:56pm: The internal note from FNC VP John Moody to staff:

“The rumors are true: two of our employees have been abducted in Gaza. We will report this fact via our Israel correspondents. Do NOT do any other segments on it. Do not book guests on this topic. Do not comment officially and of course, not on the air, about it. DO pray for their release. I will keep you posted.”

H/t Janette.

Update 1:00am:
Allah reports that there’s mistaken-identity Malkin-bashing going on at the DU thread I linked. I knew this gig came with perks.

Posted in: Wikipedia

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Vandalizing Sarah Palin’s Wikipedia page

September 9, 2008 11:43 AM by Michelle Malkin

61 Comments | 5 Trackbacks

Web slime.

An Army of Wiki Watchers

August 15, 2007 10:34 AM by Michelle Malkin

26 Comments | 12 Trackbacks

Who’s vandalizing Wikipedia?

The Return of the Poet-Soldiers

March 16, 2007 11:08 PM by John Noonan

0 Comments | 0 Trackbacks

Troll Hunting

March 14, 2007 09:03 PM by Smash

0 Comments | 0 Trackbacks

Meet Ben

March 13, 2007 02:04 PM by Smash

0 Comments | 9 Trackbacks

Fakeapedia?

March 7, 2007 12:26 AM by Michelle Malkin

0 Comments | 4 Trackbacks

Big Lizards: Jamil, We Hardly Knew Ye

January 12, 2007 09:30 PM by Dafydd ab Hugh

0 Comments | 4 Trackbacks

Blast at U.S. Embassy in Greece: ‘Act of Terrorism’

January 12, 2007 03:22 AM by Mary Katharine Ham

0 Comments | 7 Trackbacks

Triumph des Caliphs

January 10, 2007 03:33 AM by See-Dubya

0 Comments | 3 Trackbacks


Categories: Wikipedia


protein wisdom

» Anxiety of Influence?

Power Line

» Turkeys on parade