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    Two journalists working for Fox News killed in Ukraine

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1199 Views
    This image released by Fox News Channel shows cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski while on assignment with colleagues, Fox News correspondent Steve Harrigan and Jerusalem-based senior producer Yonat Friling, background right, in Kyiv. Zakrzewski was killed in Ukraine on Monday, March 14, 2022, when the vehicle he was traveling in was struck by incoming fire. Zakrzewski was a veteran war photographer who had covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria for Fox. (Pierre Zakrzewski/Fox News via AP)

    By David Bauder, Media Writer

    NEW YORK (AP) --

    Two journalists working for Fox News were killed in Ukraine when the vehicle they were traveling in outside of Kyiv with another reporter came under fire, the network said Tuesday.

    The network said its video journalist, Pierre Zakrzewski, and Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra "Sasha" Kuvshynova were killed in the incident in Horenka that also left reporter Benjamin Hall hospitalized.

    Zakrzewski, who was based in London, had covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria for Fox, the network said in a memo to staff Tuesday morning. Later, Fox announced Kuvshynova's death. She was a 24-year-old consultant helping Fox's crews navigate the Kyiv area.

    The incident that killed Zakrzewski and Kuvshynov came after Brent Renaud, a documentary filmmaker and another veteran of covering war zones, died Sunday when Russian forces opened fire on his vehicle.

    Suzanne Scott, CEO of Fox News Media, said of Zakrzewski: "His talents were vast and there wasn't a role that he didn't jump in to help with in the field — from photographer to engineer to editor to producer — and he did it all under immense pressure with tremendous skill."

    Zakrzewski played a key role last year in getting Fox's freelancers and their families out of Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal, Scott said. He was given an "unsung hero" award at an annual employee event.

    "His passion and talent as a journalist were unmatched," Suzanne Scott, CEO of Fox News Media, said in the memo.

    He had been working in Ukraine since last month.

    Kuvshynova helped gather information and spoke to sources for Fox. "She was incredibly talented and spent weeks working directly with our entire team there, operating around the clock to make sure the world knew what was happening in her country," Scott said.

    "Today is a heartbreaking day for Fox News Media and for all journalists risking their lives to deliver the news," Scott said.

    In Washington on Tuesday, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, thanked reporters who are on the ground in Ukraine.

    "Risking their lives to tell the world the truth" is something that Ukraine and the world desperately need, she said at the National Press Club.

    Tags:Fox NewsOleksandraPierre ZakrzewskiUkraine



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

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