WSJ reporter detained in Turkey two-and-a-half days

Dion Nissenbaum

Turkish authorities detained Wall Street Journal staff reporter Dion Nissenbaum for 2½ days this past week, without permitting him contact with his family or attorneys before releasing him.

Gordon Fairclough of The Journal writes, “The reporter, Dion Nissenbaum, 49 years old, left Turkey to return to the U.S. on Saturday. Police took Mr. Nissenbaum from his Istanbul apartment on Tuesday evening. He was released from a detention center on Friday morning.

“A person familiar with the matter said he was held for allegedly violating a government ban on publication of images from an Islamic State video.

“‘While we are relieved that Dion was released unharmed after nearly three days, we remain outraged at his peremptory detention, without any contact with his family, legal counsel or colleagues,’ said Gerard Baker, editor in chief of the Journal.”

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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.