Geraldo Rivera Embattled in Battle

By Elizabeth Darst

Wednesday December 19, 2001 08:36 AM EST

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Even when he's reporting the news, TV's Geraldo Rivera can't seem to help making news himself. Stationed in Afghanistan to report on the war for Fox News, Rivera, 58, has come under fire recently both literally and figuratively. Last week he was shot at by enemy fire and he and his crew just barely missed being hit. He also has been the target of criticism from fellow journalists because he and the guards with whom he's traveling are armed, which violates rules of the Geneva Convention. Critics also say Rivera's being armed endangers other journalists. This week the fire is coming from U.S. newspapers accusing him of iffy reporting tactics, reports Reuters. A report that Rivera did on Dec. 6 is being questioned by The Baltimore Sun. Rivera claimed to be reporting at a location where "friendly fire" took the lives of some American servicemen. The newspaper says it has evidence that Rivera was not at that location at all, confusing it with another location where Afghan fighters had died. The Fox newsman defended himself in the Sun, saying it was a mistake made due to the "fog of war," Reuters reports. Fox News has not commented on the incident.