Fox’s Trey Yingst Makes Fiery Call for Independent Access to Gaza as He Accepts Excellence Prize at Foreign Press Awards

Fox News’ chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst demanded fair access to Gaza in a passionate speech as he was awarded the Prize of Excellence at the annual Foreign Press Awards on Thursday night.

Yingst, who has been with the network since 2018, dedicated a portion of his acceptance remarks to acknowledge “the fearless and tenacious Palestinian journalists in Gaza who do not have the luxuries we are afforded to simply leave when the story becomes too dangerous.”

He added: “May we not forget their sacrifice and contributions to our industry. Let me also reiterate the position that international journalists must be given independent access to Gaza to report,” concluding with his mission to “continue to speak loudly and fairly, even when it is unpopular to do so. We must hold governments and militaries accountable for their actions. And we must continue to be a voice for the voiceless.”

Yingst also thanked members of the Fox News team, including Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott, and president and executive editor Jay Wallace. Yingst praised his father, Gerald Yingst, who “believed in me when everyone else told me this wasn’t possible. When I was 19 years old with a camera I bought on Amazon, a YouTube page that no one watched and a press pass that I printed at the campus library, you supported my dream.”

Read Yingst’s full speech below:

Good Evening. I’d like to begin by saying thank you to the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents for this incredible honor. I’d also like to recognize the Murdoch family, and the Fox executive team for making our coverage possible.

Including Suzanne Scott, Jay Wallace, Greg Headen, Tom Lowell and of course Lauren Petterson, Irena Briganti, Kim Rosenberg and Thomas Ferraro who are here tonight.

And finally, to my father. You believed in me when everyone else told me this wasn’t possible. When I was 19 years old with a camera I bought on Amazon, a YouTube page that no one watched and a press pass that I printed at the campus library, you supported my dream.

Over the past several years, we have reported across the globe covering history as it’s made. From Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, from Ukraine the night the Russians launched their invasion, from Syria after the fall of the Assad regime, and from Israel on the morning of October 7th.

To be a foreign correspondent is to be a witness. To be a clear voice in a world that is often marred by violence and misinformation. Our work and responsibility should not be taken lightly.

But I stand before you tonight not to speak about my achievements, but rather to tell you about the humans I’ve met along the way. And about the brave journalists who are risking their lives to tell the realities around them.

So let me begin by acknowledging the fearless and tenacious Palestinian journalists in Gaza who do not have the luxuries we are afforded to simply leave when the story becomes too dangerous. May we not forget their sacrifice and contributions to our industry.

Let me also reiterate the position that international journalists must be given independent access to Gaza to report.

This work does not feel like a job to me, but rather a mission and a purpose to go to the places that others won’t go and tell the stories that otherwise wouldn’t be told.

To places like Israel, speaking with the hostages who were released from Hamas captivity after surviving a brutal terrorist attack or to Syria hearing from the mothers we met at the infamous Sednaya prison who continue to look for their children or to Ukraine interviewing President Zelenskyy on the eastern front lines, our work will continue to focus on the experience of humans amid conflict.

We must continue to speak loudly and fairly, even when it is unpopular to do so. We must hold governments and militaries accountable for their actions. And we must continue to be a voice for the voiceless.

Thank you again for this honor.

Earlier this year, Yingst took a shot at President Donald Trump when he received an honor at the Radio Television Digital News Association’s First Amendment Awards.

“If you take anything away from my remarks today, let it be this: The people in this room, each one of you, plays a critical role acting as the fourth estate,” he said at the time. “Capturing the experiences of humans and being a voice for the voiceless. Journalists are not the enemy of the people. Let me say that again. Journalists are not the enemy of the people. Quite the opposite. Journalists are the voice of the people. May you continue to use that voice in a way that is unafraid, unwavering and unflinching.”

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