Posted on Mar 18, 2022
We're not hearing much about jailed WNBA star Brittney Griner. Could that be good?
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https://www.npr.org/2022/03/18/ [login to see] /were-not-hearing-much-about-jailed-wnba-star-brittney-griner-could-that-be-good
When news first surfaced that basketball star Brittney Griner had been detained by Russian officials, some believed it might help pave the path to free other Americans being held captive in Russian jails.
After all, one could easily assume that Griner's fame and storied WNBA career with the Phoenix Mercury — second in scoring, first in blocked shots, sixth in rebounds — would likely fuel widespread media coverage of her arrest and that she herself might become a galvanizing symbol against the detainment of two other Americans at the hands of Russian authorities, especially as the world watches Russian troops decimate Ukraine in real time.
But in the weeks since the 31-year-old was all but disappeared after being accused of smuggling hashish oil into the country — a charge that carries up to 10 years in prison — that type of mass attention has not materialized.
Aileen Gallagher, an associate professor of journalism at Syracuse University, says, "It is absurd this isn't a huge story" dominating the airwaves as well as the front pages of America's largest newspapers.
When news first surfaced that basketball star Brittney Griner had been detained by Russian officials, some believed it might help pave the path to free other Americans being held captive in Russian jails.
After all, one could easily assume that Griner's fame and storied WNBA career with the Phoenix Mercury — second in scoring, first in blocked shots, sixth in rebounds — would likely fuel widespread media coverage of her arrest and that she herself might become a galvanizing symbol against the detainment of two other Americans at the hands of Russian authorities, especially as the world watches Russian troops decimate Ukraine in real time.
But in the weeks since the 31-year-old was all but disappeared after being accused of smuggling hashish oil into the country — a charge that carries up to 10 years in prison — that type of mass attention has not materialized.
Aileen Gallagher, an associate professor of journalism at Syracuse University, says, "It is absurd this isn't a huge story" dominating the airwaves as well as the front pages of America's largest newspapers.
We're not hearing much about jailed WNBA star Brittney Griner. Could that be good?
Posted from npr.org
Basketball
Russia
Ukraine
Journalism
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 1
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Not good or bad, the latest was "The court granted the request of the investigation and extended the period of detention of the US citizen Griner until May 19," per TASS. Russia has a history of making false charges in other cases and there have been a lot of allegations of planting of substances on people. Whether that is true in this case or not I don't know,
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