Biden administration to declare WSJ reporter Gershkovich “wrongfully detained”

Evan Gershkovich

The Biden administration is preparing to officially declare Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as wrongfully detained in Russia, two U.S. officials told CNN, a move that will trigger new U.S. government resources, reports Kylie Atwood of CNN.

Atwood reports, “The designation, which is expected in the coming days, follows an ongoing internal review of the circumstances surrounding Gershkovich’s arrest, officials said. The State Department’s office of hostage affairs will then lead the US efforts to get Gershkovich home.

“Russian authorities detained Gershkovich last week and accused him of spying, signaling a significant ratcheting of both Moscow’s tensions with the United States and its campaign against foreign news media.

“Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker said over the weekend that she hoped the US would swiftly label Gershkovich as wrongfully detained, saying that it would be an official recognition that the charges against the reporter are ‘entirely bogus.'”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.