In a touching and inspiring segment on Tuesday’s Special Report, anchor Bret Baier narrated the story of cameraman Pierre “Zak” Zakrzewski; covering his love of journalism and how many of his colleagues and friends remember him. Russian artillery fired from the Ukraine killed him Monday. Fox News producer Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova was also killed and State Department correspondent Benjamin Hall was hospitalized in the same attack.
“As mentioned, this has been a very difficult day for the Fox News family because two of our co-workers have died in Ukraine: cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and journalist and translator Oleksandra Kuvshynova,” Baier announced. “They were working with correspondent Benjamin hall outside of Kyiv when fire hit their vehicle. Benjamin was seriously wounded and is in the hospital.”
Baier reported that Zakrzewski was a “steady presence in uncertain times” for those that knew him. His colleagues in the field “knew they were in good hands” when he was on the team “[b]Because he was capable of doing almost anything. He shot video, fixed equipment, produced stories, and edited pieces on the fly.”
And like any good journalist, “Pierre also seemed to always know the background of every location, every story. And he had an extraordinary ability to do his work under incredible pressure and without sleep.”
Things really got heavy as Baier was sharing how Zakrzewski’s work-family remembered him. “Some of our correspondents who worked closely with him feel this loss especially hard,” Baier said:
Today, Trey Yingst posted this photo with Pierre said he was “as good as they come. Selfless, brave, passionate.” Jonathan Hunt says he has never forgotten the smile and welcome he received from Pierre in 2003 when he first arrived in Baghdad. Pierre, he says, made everybody a better journalist as well as a better person. Amy Kellogg said Pierre was generous and warm with his time. He was also a rare kind of war reporter that never became jaded.
In particular, correspondent Greg Palkot’s account notes that Zakrzewski was with him during the worst fighting in Iraq and saved his life:
Greg Palkot claims that Pierre and he were embedded in a Marine unit during the Battle of Fallujah. Pierre said that Pierre had saved his life many times over the years. He also stated that Pierre disliked being in the newsroom. Pierre wanted to chase the story.
“And Greg noted that even when the worst was happening, Pierre would repeat his favorite advice to keep on smiling (…) And that obviously is a lot tougher today because we lost not only a colleague but a mentor, a leader, and a wonderful friend,” Baier lamented.
“We also send our condolences to the family of journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova,” he added. “Sasha as she’s known was just 24 years old. As a consultant she helped our teams navigate the city and gathered information. She also spoke with sources. Our correspondents and producers say she was hard-working, funny, kind, and brave.”
Jennifer Griffin, national security reporter had also words to say as she wrapped up her reporting on weapons reaching Ukraine and Russian journalists who opposed the war on state television. “The loss and pain we feel is enormous, but if ever there were a time when the world needed journalists, reporters risking their lives to tell these stories, to tell the truth, it’s now,” she said.
Griffin grew emotional, understandably, as she declared that “[w]The autocrats will win without a free press. We will redouble our efforts to honor these colleagues and all reporters in harm’s way tonight.”
Baier likely put it best as he told Griffin: “Your feelings are our feelings, tonight.”
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