No Info, No Inquiry: MSM Ignoring Kidnapped Fox News Reporter, Cameraman

With inspiration from Michelle Malkin, we'd like to note that Fox News reporter Steve Centanni and freelance cameraman Olaf Wiig are still being held by Palestinian terrorists at an unknown location in Gaza. It has now been eight days since their kidnapping at gunpoint. FNC top management, the journalists' families, and Palestinian journalists continue to press for their release.

Malkin's opinion, and ours, is that no news is news. We're surprised that this hasn't been more closely followed by the MSM and that the issue has been brought up by a reporter just once in press briefings at the State Department and not a single time at the White House. For a profession where members so often stand behind one another, the press corps in Washington have been astonishingly quiet. Looking back on the record, it seems they have been completely satisfied with this exchange:

Q Over the past couple years there have been a lot of journalists kidnapped in Palestinian areas. This recent one involving Steve Centanni of Fox is going on quite a bit longer than the others, which seemed to have been resolved within a couple days. And I wonder, could you say specifically what the U.S. government is doing? Are there indirect contacts with Hamas, for instance, to try to expedite the end of this affair?

MR. CASEY: Well, I think you've heard from Sean on this earlier as well, and unfortunately, I don't have much of an update you offer you over what you've heard the past couple of days. We do continue to be in contact with Prime Minister Abbas's office and other Palestinian officials associated with him and certainly continue to call for the immediate release of him as well as any other people who have been taken hostage.

Certainly it should never come to the situation where someone who's practicing his profession and trying to report on what's happening, whether that's in the territories or elsewhere, should be prohibited from doing so and should, you know, face this kind of situation. But we do continue to be in contact with Palestinian officials about this.

Q Do you think it's credible that something like this could happen without the knowledge of Hamas -- for instance, the government?

MR. CASEY: Well, you know, I -- you know, David, I really don't want to speculate on that. I think the main thing and the main concern for us is trying to do what we can to see that he gets released and gets back to his job and gets back to his family.