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TheDarkestWilliam t1_je9ysob wrote

Reply to comment by Robo_Con in Russia detains WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges by jack_lafouine

Normally I would agree. But given the political tensions, any Americans, especially reporters, should not be there for exactly this reason. Their job is to dig for information, well so is a spy's. So it's just way too easy for Russia to use those blurred lines right now. And when they do this they now have political leverage at a time when they really need it and we really need them to not have it. Any other time yes I'd agree we need reporters there. But in this specific case with the shit involved between these specific two world powers, I think it's best none of us are over there right now, however well meaning.

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Vast-Combination4046 t1_jea9ko6 wrote

He knew the risk, he's doing his part for what he feels is right.

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NKinCode t1_jeac7eg wrote

Yeah, now the US may have to swap another high valued Russian to get him back.. should’ve just stayed in the US

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BoulderAndBrunch t1_jeb9ha0 wrote

The world has moved on from Viktor. He was to no real value to us. Maybe some hyped victory over USA propaganda for Putin but that’s it. Man was going to die in prison and is no threat to the USA.

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NKinCode t1_jebn6ec wrote

He wasn’t a threat, supposedly. Regardless, it’s not as if we HAVE to trade him again. There are other prisoners who have high value that Russia could want.

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BoulderAndBrunch t1_jec7vl2 wrote

Like who? We don’t have many big name Russian prisoners.

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NKinCode t1_jecgsfi wrote

No one knew who this Russian prisoner was before he was in the talks to be released. I’m sure there are more. If there aren’t more, there can be in the future. Also, it’s not ONLY prisoner exchanges that happen. Russians can ask for different trades. When we don’t have to be in Russia for reliable news it makes less sense to put ourselves in the position to HAVE to trade

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longleaf4 t1_jearxsq wrote

How would we get any verifiable information without reporters there? It seems like we would be handcuffed to only reading g russian propaganda if they're the only ones left reporting on the ground. Then they can easily turn public opinion into forcing us to release all of the high value prisoners. There are a lot of politically established protocols for allowing journalists to pursue their work that Russia is just trashing.

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NKinCode t1_jeawpqw wrote

We do still get information from Russian sources that are reliable. There are many news outlets that are anti-war/anti-Putin who put out a lot of good information. We don’t NEED to physically be there. Of course there are many pros to having someone there but does it outweigh the cons? Let’s see who they release for the American. Doubt it’ll be favorable in terms of ‘value’

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longleaf4 t1_jeb1px8 wrote

We are really losing appreciation for information. Anti-putin Russian outlets are not a proxy or replacement for getting news reported. I have no idea how you trust such unverifiable information.

Besides, as long as we all stay united in giving Ukraine all the money and resources to keep killing Russians in fields. I don't place a lot of value in keeping a russian arms dealer who isn't going to affect the war or the US.

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NKinCode t1_jebmyfo wrote

Lol it’s all unverifiable, though. Do you know how much fake news exists that is supposedly “verified?” Like I said, we could just use the already existing outlets or get our information from another country who isn’t in Russians shit list. There’s many ways around having American reporters there if you care enough.

I’m not talking about trading an additional arms dealer. There would be more dangerous people who have in prison who could be released

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Ferengi_Earwax t1_jeb0zz0 wrote

The last russian wasn't high value.

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NKinCode t1_jebmige wrote

Supposedly. If the Russians wanted him back it’s likely for a reason. You can’t possibly trust that the US media would tell us the truth, especially when the American prisoner was a black gay female athlete.

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count023 t1_jeddxkm wrote

or america arrests a bunch of Russian journalists instead on accusations of spying, considering their diplomatic staff is basically nothing but spies, probably not too far a leap.

But who are we kidding, Russia places no value on the lives of their own, so Putin wouldn't care...

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aneeta96 t1_jearcfh wrote

So journalists should just report when it's safe? I would argue that it's more important than ever for him to be there.

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Familiar_Echidna_651 t1_jeahyng wrote

War reporters have always existed. The article says “first American reporter arrested in russia since the Cold War”- do you think the political tensions are higher now than the Cold War? Journalists have been and will always be an important part of any war effort.

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