Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall was hospitalized Monday in Ukraine after he sustained injuries while reporting on the ongoing Russian invasion, the network confirmed.
“We have a minimal level of details right now. But Ben is hospitalized and our teams on the ground are working to gather additional information as the situation quickly unfolds,” Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott wrote in a note to staff, which was read on-air by anchor John Roberts. “The safety of our entire team of journalists in Ukraine and the surrounding regions is our top priority and of the utmost importance.”
According to Scott’s memo, which The Daily Beast obtained and reviewed, Hall sustained his injuries outside of Kyiv. The network later provided Scott’s note when reached for comment.
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“This is a stark reminder for all journalists who are putting their lives on the line every day to deliver the news from the war zone,” she concluded the note. “Please keep Ben and his family in your prayers.”
Prior to the network’s confirmation that Hall had been injured, a Ukrainian official had posted to Facebook a censored image of Hall’s press pass while stating that a British journalist had been hospitalized with “serious injuries.”
News of the Fox News reporter’s injuries outside of Kyiv comes as journalists have come under fire while reporting on the increasingly dangerous Ukrainian war zone.
On Sunday, acclaimed documentary filmmaker and journalist Brent Renaud was killed in nearby Irpin. Renaud, along with journalist Juan Arredondo, was shot outside of a checkpoint. Arredondo, who was wounded, said the two had tried to cross a bridge to film fleeing refugees when they were attacked by Russian forces.
Hall gained some attention last week after forcefully defending his network’s Ukraine coverage against criticism from his own Fox News colleague, host Greg Gutfeld, who suggested the news media is emotionally manipulating audiences to sell a pro-war narrative. Hall responded on-air that devastating events the media has reported on in Ukraine are “absolutely what’s happening” in the war-torn country.
“Speaking as someone on the ground, I want to say that this is not the media trying to drum up some emotional response,” Hall declared while on-the-ground in Kyiv. “It’s an absolute catastrophe and the people caught in the middle are the ones suffering.”
