How NBC News Kept Richard Engel’s Disappearance Secret

“It is important not to spread this rumor/report.” Engel escaped his captors in Syria Monday night.

This image taken from undated amateur video posted on the Internet shows NBC chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel, center, with NBC Turkey reporter Aziz Akyavas, left, and NBC photographer John Kooistra, right, after they were taken hostage in Syria.

Image by Amateur Video / AP

Shortly before 7:30 a.m. Sunday, reports came in the from Turkish media that NBC News Middle East correspondent Richard Engel had been missing since Thursday morning. The report said that Aziz Akyavaş, a Turkish cameraman working with Engel, had also vanished.

Engel's disappearance has been a closely guarded secret and the subject of a major media blackout.

The first tweet about Engel's disappearance didn't appear until 8:30 a.m. Sunday, when a self-described Turkish news junkie named Serif Turgut tweeted, "Very Sad! 2 other reporters are missing in Syria. No news from NBC's ME Correspondnt Richard Engel&Cameramn Aziz Akyavaş from last Thursday."

The first report in the American media came at 3:10 a.m. Monday morning, when Michelle Malkin's website Twitchy, citing tweets, posted the story "Rumor Mill: NBC News Reporter Richard Engel Missing in Syria?" When Twitchy became alerted to reports of the news blackout, they updated the post with "it's going to be impossible to put this to the genie back in the bottle."


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