Why A Fox News Correspondent Was Hospitalized While Reporting In Ukraine
Every new day brings a fresh list of horrific and tragic events unfolding in war-torn Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia on February 24, 2022.
Journalists who are covering the war have become targets for Russian forces. Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on false claims of genocide and "naziism," and continues to feed this information to the Russian people. A leaked Kremlin memo details how this propaganda is even being perpetuated by Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Mother Jones reports the memo told "state-friendly" media outlets to "use more Tucker Carlson." Carlson's message has loudly been pro-Russia leading up to the invasion, and continues to be so even after. According to the memo, Carlson's position is that "Russia is only protecting its interests and security." Protecting them from what, though, the memo doesn't say.
Journalists and civilians alike have been spreading the truth about what's happening in Ukraine through social media — what Ukrainian cabinet minister Mykhailo Fedorov calls a different type of war effort. "We are trying to bring the truth to the Russians and make them protest against the war," he told the BBC.
It's easy to understand why Russia, who relies heavily on propaganda, would want to target those trying to spread the truth about what's happening in Ukraine. They aren't the first to target journalists, either; according to a 2012 New York Times report, Israeli Defense Forces called journalists killed by targeted bombings in the Gaza Strip "people who have relevance to terror activity."
This is what we know about what happened to Benjamin Hall
Involvement in "terror activity" is one way Russian forces could justify killing journalists and civilians. It's clear from the rising number of casualties they are no longer hiding the fact that their main objective isn't to "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine — the reasons Russian President Vladimir Putin gave for invading the country in the first place, per the BBC.
One of those casualties includes the first foreign correspondent killed in the combat zone. Brent Renaud had been in Kyiv filming people crossing through a checkpoint when he and director Juan Arredondo were attacked, per CBS News. Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister, said Renaud "paid with his life for attempting to expose the insidiousness, cruelty, and ruthlessness of the aggressor" (via People).
Another foreign journalist, Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall, was also injured in Kyiv. According to The New York Times, Hall — a State Department correspondent for Fox — is a veteran war correspondent who has covered Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria. In an on-air statement, Fox News said they have "minimal level of details" about the quickly unfolding situation, per People. "The safety of our entire team of journalists in Ukraine and the surrounding regions is our top priority and of the utmost importance," Suzanne Scott, Fox News CEO, wrote in the statement. She added: "This is a start reminder for all journalists who are putting their lives on the line every day to deliver the news from the war zone."