American journalist Brent Renaud killed in Ukraine

An American journalist was killed by Russian forces Sunday while reporting on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Brent Renaud — a 51-year-old, award-winning filmmaker, journalist and documentarian from Little Rock, Arkansas — was shot and killed while reporting just outside of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday. A Ukrainian police chief posted on Facebook that Renaud was “shot dead” by Russian forces, adding, “the occupants cynically kill even journalists of international media, who've been trying to tell the truth about atrocities of Russian military in Ukraine.”

Renaud was found with an outdated New York Times press badge, but he was working for Time. In a joint statement, Time editor-in-chief and CEO Edward Felsenthal and president and COO of Time and Time Studios Ian Orefice wrote:

“We are devastated by the loss of Brent Renaud. As an award-winning filmmaker and journalist, Brent tackled the toughest stories around the world often alongside his brother Craig Renaud. In recent weeks, Brent was in the region working on a TIME Studios project focused on the global refugee crisis. Our hearts are with all of Brent’s loved ones. It is essential that journalists are able to safely cover this ongoing invasion and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.”

The New York Times put out a statement saying, “Though (Renaud) had contributed to the Times in the past (most recently in 2015), he was not on assignment for any desk at the Times in Ukraine.”

Renaud also had worked in the past for media organizations such as NBC and HBO. The New York Times’ Michael Schwirtz wrote, “Mr. Renaud often worked with his brother, Craig Renaud, and won a Peabody award for a Vice News documentary about a school in Chicago. The two have worked on film and television projects from conflict zones and hot spots around the world. Over the past decade, the brothers had covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the earthquake in Haiti, cartel violence in Mexico and youth refugees in Central America, according to their website.”

Here’s a piece the Renaud brothers put together in 2015 for the Times called “Between Borders: American Migrant Crisis.”

Christof Putzel and Renaud won a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University journalism award for “Arming the Mexican Cartels,” a documentary on how guns trafficked from the United States contributed to gang violence. Putzel told The Associated Press’ Pamela Sampson, “This guy was the absolute best. He was just the absolute best war journalist that I know. This is a guy who literally went to every conflict zone.”

Renaud was a 2019 Harvard Nieman Fellow. Ann Marie Lipinski, the curator of the Nieman Foundation, tweeted, “Our Nieman Fellow Brent Renaud was gifted and kind, and his work was infused with humanity. He was killed today outside Kiev, and the world and journalism are lesser for it. We are heartsick.”

Renaud was traveling Sunday with American journalist Juan Arredondo, who also was shot, but survived. The two were believed to be working on a story about Ukrainian refugees fleeing to Poland. In an interview with Italian journalist Annalisa Camilli, Arredondo said he was shot in the back, while Renaud was shot in the neck.

“We crossed the first bridge in Irpin, we were going to film other refugees leaving, and we got into a car, somebody offered to take us to the other bridge, we crossed the checkpoint, and they started shooting at us,” Arrendondo said.

During that interview, which was conducted while Arredondo was being treated in a hospital bed, Arredondo said he was brought to the hospital by an ambulance, but that Renaud was “left behind.” He said, “I don’t know” when asked what had happened to Renaud. A German reporter filmed and tweeted Arredondo being evacuated after being shot.

In a tweet, The U.S. State Department wrote, “We are horrified that journalists and filmmakers — noncombatants‚ have been killed and injured in Ukraine by Kremlin forces. This is yet another gruesome example of the Kremlin’s indiscriminate actions.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists tweeted, “We are shocked and saddened to learn of the death of U.S. journalist Brent Renaud in Ukraine. This kind of attack is totally unacceptable, and is a violation of international law. Russian forces in Ukraine must stop all violence against journalists and other civilians at once.”

The Washington Post’s Paulina Villegas, Brittany Shammas and Isabelle Khurshudyan reported, “Renaud’s death comes after a team of Sky News journalists were shot at while attempting to report in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha. Chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay and camera operator Richie Mockler were shot. They survived and were evacuated out of the country. The journalists were later told that the gunmen were part of a saboteur Russian reconnaissance squad.”

Renaud is believed to have been the second journalist killed in the war. The Committee to Protect Journalists previously wrote that Russian military forces bombed a TV tower in Kyiv on March 1 and that five were killed, including camera operator Yevhenii Sakun.”

Instagram banned in Russia

Russia was expected to ban Instagram early Monday. Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communications regulator, said, “We need to ensure the psychological health of citizens, especially children and adolescents, to protect them from harassment and insults online.”

In a video response, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said, “The Russian government has decided to block Instagram in Russia, cutting off millions of people from loved ones and friends around the world. We know that over 80 percent of people in Russia on Instagram follow an account from outside of Russia. The situation is terrifying, and we are trying to do all we can to keep people safe.”

The Washington Post’s Paul Sonne and Mary Ilyushina wrote, “The ban on Instagram is the latest example of how Russia’s citizens are being isolated from the rest of the world as a result of Moscow’s war against Ukraine. Since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion on Feb. 24, his government has also pulled the plug on Russia’s opposition-oriented radio and television networks, part of a broader effort to squelch domestic dissent in response to the war. Thousands of Russians have been arrested for attempting to protest the invasion.”

It’s believed that Russia has somewhere between 60 to 80 million Instagram users.

Instagram is owned by Meta, which also owns Facebook. Russia had already banned Facebook on March 4.

Last week, Meta said it would temporarily change its hate speech policy, applied only to Ukraine, in the wake of Russia’s invasion. Messages such as, “Death to Russian invaders” would be allowed. Sonne and Ilyushina wrote, “The U.S. company made an exception to its policy against inciting violence, so long as the posts represented political expression against Russian forces invading Ukraine. Meta said calls for violence against ordinary Russian citizens would remain prohibited.”

Still getting info

While the Russian government is doing its best to limit (and control) what information is getting to its citizens, a new website is working to get around the Kremlin and get the real story to individuals in Russia.

The Wall Street Journal’s Bojan Pancevski reports that a website developed by programmers in Poland obtained 20 million cellphone numbers and 140 million email addresses of Russian individuals and companies. Pancevski wrote, “The site randomly generates numbers and addresses from those databases and allows anyone anywhere in the world to message them, with the option of using a pre-drafted message in Russian that calls on people to bypass President Vladimir Putin’s censorship of the media. Since it was launched on March 6, thousands of people across the globe, including many in the U.S., have used the site to send millions of messages in Russian, footage from the war, or images of Western media coverage documenting Russia’s assault on civilians, according to Squad303, as the group that wrote the tool calls itself.”

A spokesperson for Squad303 told the Journal, “Our aim was to break through Putin’s digital wall of censorship and make sure that Russian people are not totally cut off from the world and the reality of what Russia is doing in Ukraine.”

It’s not known, exactly, how effective these messages are and there could be a serious downside.

The Journal wrote, “Receiving such messages could present risks for some residents of Russia. Russian police were filmed checking people’s mobile phones and reading their communication following a string of antiwar protests in recent days.”

Notable pieces about Ukraine

• The Wall Street Journal’s Sam Schechner and Keach Hagey with “Russia Rolls Down Internet Iron Curtain, but Gaps Remain.”
• Also from The Wall Street Journal, Sarah E. Needleman and Deepa Seetharaman with “TikTok Influencers Get Spotlight in Information Battle Over the Russia-Ukraine War.”
• The New York Times’ Anton Troianovski and Patrick Kingsley with “‘Things Will Only Get Worse.’ Putin’s War Sends Russians Into Exile.”
• For The Washington Post, Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff and Julia Alekseeva with “As refugees flee into Poland, some Ukrainians have decided to do the unexpected: Go home.”
• CNN’s Brian Stelter interviews Yevgenia Albats, a journalist who has stayed in Russia.

Bizarre comments

During her “Sunday Mornings Futures” show on Fox News, anchor Maria Bartiromo made an eyebrow-raising comment about President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Bartiromo said, “Some people have told me over the weekend that they feel that, at the end of the day, this administration does not see Putin as the enemy, they see him as a partner … on many issues. They see him as a partner on climate change. They see him as a partner on the Iran deal. When is this administration going to get serious in telling Vladimir Putin, ‘We are done with partnerships.’ That means no Iran deal, walk away, no more renegotiating on America’s behalf. No more products from Russia … truly a pariah for the world. But we’re not there yet.”

For Bartiromo to suggest Biden “does not see Putin as the enemy” and that he sees him “as a partner” is misleading and journalistically irresponsible. And especially so when you consider how Bartiromo has frequently had cozy interviews with former President Donald Trump, who has praised Putin in the past.

Bartiromo’s remarks came while she was interviewing South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who told Bartiromo, “The Biden administration looks at Putin as a partner for climate change and an Iran deal-maker rather than a war criminal. Biden is more afraid of Putin losing than he is excited about Ukraine winning. Let you hear it from me. Victory for Ukraine!”

The Daily Beast’s Justin Baragona has more on the interview.

Baragona also tweeted out Bartiromo’s remarks about the Biden administration seeing Putin not as an enemy, but as a partner on many issues. MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle retweeted Baragona’s tweet and wrote, “For every female business journalist watching this downward spiral, it’s like believing in Batman all your life & then one day realizing…he’s actually The Joker.”

Ruhle later tweeted, “I cannot wrap my head around it.”

Sad news

Actor William Hurt, who won a Best Actor Oscar in 1986 for his performance in “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” has died. He would have been 72 next week. The cause of death was not revealed, but Hurt was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer in 2018. (Variety’s Brent Lang and J. Kim Murphy have an obit.)

While he’s known for a brilliant career that included parts in “The Big Chill,” “Children of a Lesser God,” “Gorky Park” and “Body Heat” and dozens of others, he might be best remembered by many for playing the part of a journalist in 1987’s “Broadcast News.” Alongside Holly Hunter and Albert Brooks, Hurt played a TV anchor/reporter who had the good looks and charisma — if not the journalistic chops — to be a star network news personality. His performance earned him a Best Actor Oscar nomination. 

Most of you likely have seen “Broadcast News,” but if you haven’t, watch it immediately. It’s wickedly funny, and Hurt is great. And, by the way, when I did my list of the best 25 movies about journalism in 2018, “Broadcast News” came in at No. 2.

Hurt also was in another movie with journalism ties. In 1981, he starred in “Eyewitness.” Hurt played a janitor who was infatuated with a TV news reporter played by Sigourney Weaver. Hurt’s character lets on that he knows more about the murder of a wealthy businessman than he actually does so he can get closer to Weaver’s character, who is investigating the murder.

Buck expected to go to ESPN

The big-time shuffling involving some of the NFL’s top broadcasters has been almost as exciting as the transactions involving some of the league’s top quarterbacks. (I said almost.)

The big move came earlier this month when Troy Aikman, perhaps the best analyst in the NFL at the moment, left Fox Sports for a reported five-year, $92.5 million deal to call “Monday Night Football” for ESPN.

Now it appears his longtime Fox Sports partner, Joe Buck, is joining him on “MNF.” The New York Post’s Andrew Marchand broke the news that Fox Sports has given Buck permission to talk to ESPN. (Buck has one year left on his deal with Fox, but Fox is willing to let Buck out of his deal.)

Buck’s move is a big one. He is only 52, but the son of legendary announcer Jack Buck has been at Fox Sports since 1994 and has become the network’s top sports play-by-play voice. He has called 24 World Series and six Super Bowls for Fox. Sources tell Marchand that he is expected to sign a contract in the five-year, $60-$75 million range with ESPN.

Clearly, by spending this kind of money, ESPN is trying to pump some pizzazz into “Monday Night Football,” where the most recent broadcast team of Steve Levy-Louis Riddick-Brian Griese was good but not spectacular. What’s interesting, however, is ESPN will surely highlight the Buck-Aikman tandem on ESPN, while still having the Manning Brothers do their ManningCast many weeks on ESPN2. It should be noted that ESPN/ABC have the Super Bowl next in 2027.

But Fox Sports has two of the next three Super Bowls, including next season — and it just lost its A-team. Several reports say Kevin Burkhardt, who already calls games for Fox Sports, is in line to replace Buck. As far as replacing Aikman, Fox could go with Greg Olsen, who already works with Burkhardt.

Meanwhile, other moves in the NFL announcing world: Amazon announced last week that Kirk Herbstreit will be the color analyst on “Thursday Night Football.” Herbstreit will continue working as ESPN’s top college football analyst. Al Michaels, probably the best NFL play-by-play guy of all time and still on top of his game at age 77, is likely to sign a three-year, $33-million deal to be Amazon’s play-by-play announcer. 

Actually, come to think of it, this stuff might be more interesting than the quarterback shuffle in the NFL. Then again, here’s the sports tweet of the day from the GOAT himself, Tom Brady:

“These past two months I’ve realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands. That time will come. But it’s not now. I love my teammates, and I love my supportive family. They make it all possible. I’m coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa. Unfinished business.”

Wow.

Media tidbits

• Norah O’Donnell will anchor the “CBS Evening News” from Poland near the Ukraine border starting tonight. Evening news anchors David Muir (ABC’s “World News Tonight”) and Lester Holt (“NBC Nightly News”) have already been anchoring from Ukraine.
• CNN+ has set a launch date: March 29. CNN+ will cost $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year, but it will launch with a “lifetime” deal, letting users pay $2.99 per month for life.
• CNN’s Oliver Darcy with “Right-wing group targets New York Times reporters who have aggressively reported on its spy tactics.”
• Rolling Stone’s Tatiana Siegel with “‘Cuomo-W. Trump-L.’: How CNN's Jeff Zucker and His Cronies Manipulated the News.”
• Former President Barack Obama tweeted Sunday that he has COVID-19: “I just tested positive for COVID. I’ve had a scratchy throat for a couple days, but am feeling fine otherwise. Michelle and I are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted, and she has tested negative. It’s a reminder to get vaccinated if you haven’t already, even as cases go down.”

Hot type

• For The Washington Post, Gillian Brockell with “The painful, cutting and brilliant letters Black people wrote to their former enslavers.”
• Time for March Madness. ESPN.com’s Myron Medcalf with “What to know about every team in the men's NCAA tournament bracket.” And here’s ESPN.com’s Alexa Philippou with “Women's NCAA tournament 2022: What to know about every team in the bracket.”
• And finally, this is just what you need today, The New York Times Magazine with “The Songs That Get Us Through It.”

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected].

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