Not surprising, but still more disappointing news regarding Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being jailed in Russia on espionage charges that he and the U.S. government deny. His appeal to be released until his trial begins was denied Thursday. He will remain in custody until Aug. 30, the trial’s set start date. The U.S. has labeled Gershkovich “wrongfully detained” and wants him released.
According to The Associated Press, Gershkovich wore a black T-shirt and light blue jeans, and “looked tense and paced inside a glass defendant’s cage while waiting for the hearing to begin at the Moscow City Court.” The AP added, “While waiting for the judge, Gershkovich smiled and chatted with his parents, who were present. U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy also attended.”
Tracy said afterward that she was “extremely disappointed” that Gershkovich’s appeal was denied. “Such hostage diplomacy is unacceptable, and we call on the Russian Federation to release him,” Tracy said.
She added, “Evan continued to show remarkable strength and resiliency in these very difficult circumstances.”
The assumption is that Russia is using Gershkovich as a bargaining chip in a possible prisoner swap with the U.S.
Now on to other media news, tidbits, thoughts and links for your weekend review, starting with the news about Vice …
- Vice Media will be acquired out of bankruptcy by three investment companies led by Fortress Investment Group. The New York Times’ Lauren Hirsch and Benjamin Mullin wrote that Fortress’ bid was increased to $350 million in recent days after an initial bid of $225 million. They wrote, “Multiple bidders put in offers to acquire Vice Media, but only Fortress’s was deemed ‘qualified,’ meaning the others did not meet the bar Vice had set for buyers,” according to a source.
- Sadly, authorities said the five people aboard the submersible to tour the wreckage of the Titanic who went missing on Sunday are believed to be dead. There was another tragedy at sea this week that didn’t get nearly the media attention. NBC News’ Chantal Da Silva writes, “A tale of two disasters: Missing Titanic sub captivates the world days after deadly migrant shipwreck.”
- A meteorologist for an Iowa TV station has stepped down, citing harassment and threats he has received for reporting on climate change. Chris Gloninger, the chief meteorologist for CBS affiliate KCCI in Des Moines, put out a statement on Twitter that said, in part, “After a death threat stemming from my climate coverage last year and resulting in PTSD, in addition to family health issues, I’ve decided to begin this journey *now* … I take immense pride in having educated the public about the impacts of climate change during my career.” The Washington Post’s Daniel Wu has more.
- For Poynter, Elizabeth Djinis with “Local journalism’s burnout crisis is unsustainable.”
- Brian Stelter talks with “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt for Esquire’s “What I’ve Learned” series. Holt told Stelter, “You can’t hammer people for half an hour with nothing but dark, difficult stories. You have to find a balance: Give them something hopeful, give them something to smile about, while making sure we hit the big stories of the day.” He also said, “Three forces have really shaped where we are as a country: 9/11, Covid, and Donald Trump. Take that any way you want.”
- Outstanding reporting, graphics and design in The Washington Post from Caroline Kitchener, Rachel Roubein, Andrew Ba Tran, Caitlin Gilbert and Hannah Dormido: “A fragile new phase of abortion in America.”
- From The New York Times Style Magazine: “The 25 Most Influential Works of Postwar Queer Literature.”
- The Columbus Dispatch’s Mike Wagner with “Jack Hanna’s long goodbye: How Alzheimer’s is stripping away the man the world once knew.”
- Is this real? The Verge’s Alex Heath with “Mark Zuckerberg is ready to fight Elon Musk in a cage match.”
- New York Post sports media columnist Andrew Marchand had the big scoop this week that ESPN is scrapping its national morning radio show that is also simulcast on TV. This is the show featuring Keyshawn Johnson, Jay Williams and Max Kellerman. It’s part of a restructuring at the network that will include, according to Marchand, more layoffs. Marchand wrote, “It doesn’t mean that Johnson, Williams or Kellerman will be let go, though Kellerman is in jeopardy. He is a big-money guy who now is going to be out on radio and the time slot for his TV program, ‘This Just In,’ will be taken over by ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ this fall. Johnson’s and Williams’ futures also are in flux.”
- What does dumping the national morning show — a slot once held by the mighty “Mike & Mike,” featuring Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic — say about the future of ESPN Radio? Awful Announcing’s Alex Reimer writes ESPN Radio, along with most national sports radio, is on life support. When Marchand tweeted out his story about the morning show being dropped, Golic tweeted, “Damn shame and very sad what has become of ESPN radio.”
- One more thought on ESPN Radio. While I was never a big fan of “Mike & Mike,” it did have a decent following and certainly promoted the ESPN brand. Based on all that Greenberg does for the network now, ESPN clearly wanted to get him a more prominent role that he simply couldn’t do while anchored to a morning-drive radio show. Greenberg, as well, was ready for more. And maybe other factors, including podcasts, are hurrying the demise of national sports talk radio. But this is evident as well: ESPN has never recovered from the end of “Mike & Mike,” even though the sequels with Trey Wingo and Golic, and then Kellerman, Johnson and Williams were, content-wise, just as good as “Mike & Mike.” But the brand name of “Mike & Mike” carried a lot of weight.
- Where might the next group of athletes-turned-broadcasters come from? Check out the story from The New York Times’ Sopan Deb: “The Boot Camp for N.B.A. Hot Takes and Analysis.”
- The Atlanta-Journal Constitution’s Patricia Murphy writes about a Georgia Public Broadcasting radio host whose show was canceled because of budget cuts: “GPB’s Bill Nigut gets canceled.”
- For Nieman Lab, Denis Muller with “How Australia’s media emperors — one of them named Murdoch — used journalism to cement their empires.”
- Variety’s Shirley Halperin with “How DJ Khaled Built a Hip-Hop Empire Off of Relentless Positivity, Self-Promotion and Friends Like Drake and Jay-Z.”
- Finally, some exciting news in the Poynter neighborhood: Angie Drobnic Holan, editor-in-chief of PolitiFact, has been named the new director of the International Fact-Checking Network, which is based at Poynter. IFCN program director Ferdi Ferhat Özsoy, who has served as interim director for the past six months, has been promoted to the role of deputy director. Holan told Poynter’s Jennifer Orsi, “Misinformation is still on the march. Indeed, its influence seems to be growing. Dictators and authoritarian governments increasingly use disinformation as another tool in their arsenal of oppression. They spread lies to gain power and suppress fact-checking, as well as all independent journalism. Fact-checking is under imminent threat in some parts of the world.”
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