In a significant move, the U.S. State Department has designated Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich “wrongfully detained.” Gershkovich, who worked in the Moscow bureau for the Journal, was arrested in Russia last month and accused of espionage, a charge that the Journal vehemently denies.
What makes this move to “wrongfully detained” so important?
For starters, it means the U.S. also denies the claims that Gershkovich is a spy. It had previously called the claims “ridiculous.” But, more importantly, it means Gershkovich’s case will now be handled by the State Department’s Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. That department focuses on negotiating the release of hostages and those classified as wrongfully detained in foreign lands. The designation is made by the secretary of state — in this case, Antony Blinken.
As an example, basketball star Brittney Griner was designated “wrongfully detained” after her arrest last year and the U.S. eventually worked out a prisoner swap to bring Griner back home.
In the Gershkovich case, The Wall Street Journal’s Vivian Salama reports, “Officials said the speed at which the designation was reached was unprecedented, as it involves a lengthy bureaucratic process that typically takes months. The designation seldom comes before the detainee is able to meet with American consular officials from the local embassy, a right Mr. Gershkovich has so far been denied.”
Salama noted, “The designation is relatively rare: Some 99% of Americans held overseas face legal troubles in which the U.S. doesn’t conclude that they are being held improperly.”
In a statement, the State Department said, “We call for the Russian Federation to immediately release Mr. Gershkovich. We also call on Russia to release wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan.”
Whelan, a former marine, was detained in Russia in 2018 after authorities there claimed he was involved in an intelligence operation. He is currently serving a 16-year sentence after being convicted in 2020 in a trial the U.S. said was unfair.
More on Gershkovich’s case
On Monday, The New York Times’ David Leonhardt and Claire Moses dedicated their entire “The Morning” newsletter to Gershkovich in “The Jailing of Evan Gershkovich.”
It goes into great detail on Gershkovich’s career and who he is. Leonhardt and Moses write, “Gershkovich’s colleagues and other reporters describe him as funny, generous and cheerfully competitive. He congratulates other journalists when they get a scoop — and enjoys getting his own.”
They also talk about his journalistic chops, and his desire to help the world understand Russia better through his reporting.
Meanwhile, New York Magazine’s Shawn McCreesh writes about new Wall Street Journal editor Emma Tucker and how she has been immediately thrust into this effort to bring Gershkovich home in “Emma Tucker’s Deadline.”
McCreesh writes how Tucker is handling the situation. Joe Kahn, executive editor of The New York Times, told McCreesh, “She has handled a difficult situation with urgency and confidence. Emma has also done one of the most important things an editor can do in a terrible situation like this, using good journalism and a powerful platform to keep injustice front and center in people’s minds.”
Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan told McCreesh, “You really have to think how to keep high and sustained visibility.”
That can be difficult, especially when the White House must move on to other matters and can’t always keep a story such as this at the top of the news cycle.
McCreesh also talks to former Washington Post editor Marty Baron, who ran the Post newsroom in 2014 when Post journalist Jason Rezaian was arrested in Iran. Baron told McCreesh, “My role was really to be a regular presence in key moments on television, on radio, and other interviews with the printed press, to be the person who was always talking about Jason and articulating what was going on and the injustices that were being inflicted upon him.”
Rezaian was released in early 2016.
For much more on the Gershkovich story and Tucker’s hiring at the Wall Street Journal, check out McCreesh’s piece.
Getting settled
We’re less than a week away from the beginning of the trial in Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News. Unless the parties reach a settlement, the trial is expected to get underway on Monday.
But a settlement has been reached in another lawsuit stemming from the 2020 election. Representatives of Fox News and one of its former hosts, Lou Dobbs, reached a settlement with a Venezuelan businessman whose name was linked to false allegations about voting machines used in the 2020 election.
The businessman, Majed Khalil, filed a lawsuit in 2021, alleging that Dobbs’ social media account and comments made by Donald Trump lawyer Sidney Powell on Dobbs’ Fox Business show defamed him by claiming he helped change ballot counts in voting machines.
In a statement to several news outlets, Fox News said, “This matter has been resolved amicably by both sides. We have no further comment.”
Dobbs’ show was canceled in February 2021 and he is no longer associated with Fox News or Fox Business.
The loneliness of Bret Baier
NPR media writer David Folkenflik has a new piece out called “The loneliness of Fox News’ Bret Baier.”
No one can deny much of Fox News consists of conservative and right-wing pundits delivering hard right and anti-left talking points. But, Folkenflik writes, “While his selection of stories and analysts often appeal to conservative sensibilities, Baier presents the news from a journalistic standpoint, covers major developments of the day, and corrects misstatements of facts.”
Folkenflik adds, “According to Baier’s current and former colleagues, he stands very much alone at Fox News — which has been pushed even farther to the right since the outset of the Trump years.”
Folkenflik goes on to write, “In one sign of his isolation, Baier repeatedly sought to devote an hour-long Sunday evening special following the 2020 elections to set out and debunk the leading myths bolstering Trump’s baseless claims of fraud. On ‘Special Report,’ Baier had addressed many of those individual claims, which had been promoted by Trump and embraced by many of his supporters. Baier told colleagues he thought the hour-long treatment would be an important way to show Fox’s audience that it was taking their concerns seriously while presenting them with the facts about the election. Baier’s proposed hour, described to NPR by five people with direct knowledge, never aired. Network executives never even gave Baier — their chief political anchor — a direct verdict on his pitch, they said.”
Folkenflik said that through a spokesperson, Baier declined to comment on the story.
There’s much more to Baier and his role at Fox News, so check out Folkenflik’s story.
I’m running, but don’t tell anyone
The “Today” show’s Al Roker, left, talking with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Monday. (Courtesy: NBC News)
Joe Biden told the “Today” show’s Al Roker that he is going to run for president again in 2024. But he also said he isn’t announcing it.
Got that?
Here’s exactly what Biden told Roker: “I plan on running, Al, but we’re not prepared to announce it yet.”
So there you have it.
Biden and his wife, Jill, met with Roker at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. His holiday message to Roker for the country was, “Reach out to somebody. Do something nice, just a simple act of kindness. I mean, it is not complicated. It’s amazing what happens. Open the door for someone. You know, pick up something they dropped, move and say hello. I really mean it. I just think we’ve gotten much too tense as a nation. I think we have to be a little more open.”
Looking for answers
It’s not unusual for Florida politicians — or any politicians, for that matter — to duck the media, but it seems the practice is carrying over to another high-profile state position in the Sunshine State.
It would appear that new University of Florida president Ben Sasse, the former Republican U.S. senator from Nebraska, doesn’t have any use for the newspaper that specifically covers the university. The Independent Florida Alligator is the independent student newspaper at the University of Florida.
On Monday, the paper’s editorial board wrote an editorial — well-written I might add — asking the president: Where are you and why won’t you talk to us?
The editorial board wrote, “Whatever the president’s agenda, we can’t report on it clearly if he won’t talk to us. We tried emailing him, we tried calling him, we tried leaving him hand-written notes and we tried saying his name three times in the bathroom with the lights off. None of it worked. The university is also behind on giving us Sasse’s schedule — despite our incessant weekly public records requests trying to locate his whereabouts.”
The board added, “We’ve all been ghosted, we’ve all felt crazy after not getting a response back, but we shouldn’t get that treatment from the university’s president.”
They’re absolutely right. As the board points out in its editorial, the university has several newsworthy events coming up, including a search for a new provost.
The Alligator made an interview request Nov. 7 and still hasn’t heard back. The board wrote, “… Sasse hasn’t even given us the courtesy of declining interview requests.”
The board concludes with, “Come on over, Dr. Sasse. We may be Gators, but we promise we won’t bite.”
Clever story and enjoyable writing
OK, I promise that I’m not going to give away any of the spoilers from Sunday night’s “Succession” on HBO. If you watch the show — or plan on watching the series — but have yet to see Sunday’s episode three of the final season, do not click on the link I am about to list here.
It’s a story from the Los Angeles Times’ Meredith Blake and Yvonne Villarreal. I can’t even give you the headline because it will give it away. But if you have watched the episode, you’ll find the Times piece to be very clever and entertaining. Click here if you want to read it. But, again, be warned: major spoilers from episode three!
And, here’s another good piece, this one from The New York Times’ Austin Considine, who talks to one of the stars of “Succession” about what happened in episode three.
Correction
In Monday’s newsletter, I linked to a column written by Jonathan Chait, but I listed the wrong publication. Chait writes for New York Magazine.
Media tidbits
- The New Yorker’s Melissa del Bosque with “The Covert Mission to Solve a Mexican Journalist’s Murder.”
- My Poynter colleague Angela Fu with “What’s next for Salt Lake Tribune chair Paul Huntsman? A new local weekly in SoCal.”
- For Nieman Lab, Richard Watts with “Student reporters are filling a crucial gap in state government coverage.”
- For The Washington Post, Ali Bahrampour with “Al Jaffee, Mad magazine’s cartoon maestro, dies at 102.”
- Washington Post opinion columnist Jennifer Rubin is launching a subscriber-only newsletter. It will go out weekly every Friday starting this Friday. Rubin, who writes mostly about politics, has been with the Post Opinions section since 2010. In a statement, Rubin said, “I’m incredibly excited to have a platform where I can connect with subscribers, delve into the most important stories of the week and share some of my experiences and interests outside politics.”
Hot type
(Courtesy: NBC News)
- NBC News’ Brandy Zadrozny with “Conspiracy theorists made Tiffany Dover into an anti-vaccine icon. She’s finally ready to talk about it.” Also, check out Zadronzy’s podcast on this story: “Truthers: Tiffany Dover Is Dead*”
- This story is a couple weeks old, but it’s a haunting read. The Indianapolis Star’s Dana Hunsinger Benbow with “Baseball phenom, 13, dies by suicide. He came home from school, left video: ‘I hate my life.’”
More resources for journalists
- Time for a new job? Your future employer is looking for you on The Media Job Board — Powered by Poynter, Editor & Publisher and America’s Newspapers. Search now!
- Poynter’s Beat Academy (March-Oct.) (Webinar series) — Enroll now.
- Join us for An Evening with Denis Phillips — May 12, at The Straz. Get tickets.
- Celebrate the free press and democracy in style at Poynter’s Bowtie Ball on Nov. 18 at the JW Marriott in Tampa, Florida. Get tickets.
Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.
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