The freeing of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on Thursday was not first reported in the paper where he works. We first heard the glorious news about his coming home as part of a large prisoner swap between Russia and the U.S. from the British press.
That might sound surprising. The Journal, after all, had been acquainted with the behind-the-scenes negotiations, as the paper has reported. But we assume they wanted to be sure and to do nothing that might compromise their employee’s ability to be reunited with his family, as has taken place.
Simply put, a breaking story, a scoop, was not their objective. The facts show they cared more about the well-being of their reporter.
We all hope to be treated decently by our employers and, especially, to count on their support if something goes wrong as part of our work on their behalf. That’s hardly an uncommon thing in many professions and such support is not always forthcoming. But in this case, the Journal truly went above and beyond in both public and private-facing ways. Anyone visiting its website saw Gershkovich on the front page every minute of every day. His case stared you in the face every morning, counting down the longevity of Vladimir Putin’s injustice.
The Journal is a for-profit business and, as we well know, prime spots on a media outlet’s homepage typically are reserved for revenue-drawing stories popular with readers and subscribers. In this case, and despite its typical focus on business and the markets, the Journal gave up plenty of that to keep pounding away on Gershkovich’s behalf. And pound it did.
Media institutions, as we already have seen in this extraordinary presidential election cycle, have their agendas and enjoy power and influence over governments. Sometimes disturbingly so. But in this case, the Journal used it on behalf of one of its own.
All in all, 24 prisoners held by one side or the other were released Thursday in Ankara, Turkey, including the former Marine Paul Whelan and the Russian American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva. As we wrote 16 months ago, Gershkovich was an innocent man who had become “a victim of the Kremlin’s willingness to resort to hostage-taking as a bludgeon against America.”
But he’s home now, freed from a Russian prison and a sham trial. As you might expect, the release was politicized and accompanied by a not entirely comfortable scene involving President Joe Biden, family members, the Oval Office, cameras and a conversation broadcast to the world. Fair enough. Biden is the chief executive who presided over Gershkovich’s release and decided how much had to be given up in return.
We can debate all of that. But whatever else you might say about our president, there is no question that he understands the power and importance of familial bonds.
Given what Putin has done to others, we’re just glad that our media colleague is home and out of harm’s way. And we commend a newspaper that made sure, day after day after day, that his unjust detention by a cruel man remained top of mind.
