Political bias is clear among America’s left-leaning legacy media . But it’s not just what they say, it’s what they don’t say — what and who they refuse to cover. There is an appalling difference between coverage of the wrongful detention of WNBA star Brittney Griner and that of other Americans arrested and still held by Moscow.

Griner was arrested in February 2022 on drug charges (medical cannabis) and was detained for 10 months in a women’s prison in Russia. According to a LexisNexis search, liberal legacy media published or broadcast 448 stories featuring Griner’s story in those 10 months. On average, that’s 1.5 stories per day.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested on March 29 on espionage charges and jailed in the notorious Lefortovo Prison in Moscow. A Moscow court on Tuesday extended his detention until Jan. 30, 2024. Those same media sources have included Gershkovich in headlines 31 times since his arrest. That’s 1.5 stories per week.

Corporate security director Paul Whelan was arrested in December 2018 on espionage charges and sentenced to 16 years. He was recently attacked by another inmate at the penal colony where he is being detained. He has been covered 53 times in legacy media, which is about once per month.

American teacher Marc Fogel was arrested in August 2021 on drug charges (20 grams of medical cannabis) similar to Griner, sentenced to 14 years, and is still in jail. The same media have covered him six times in 27 months. Fogel has serious health problems, yet both the State Department and the Russians seem content to let him bide his time.

The State Department indicated in 2022 that there are probably 40 to 50 Americans wrongfully detained around the world, although others indicate there may be more than 200 in China alone. You won’t hear much about them if you only follow the legacy press.

Brittney Griner was treated far differently by the legacy media for two reasons.

First, she was an international sports superstar, and she garnered public support from Hollywood elites, public figures, and other athletic stars such as Stephen Curry and Megan Rapinoe. LeBron James posted in early June 2022, "We need to come together and help do whatever we possibly can to bring BG home quickly and safely!! Our voice as athletes is stronger together." He continued to pressure the White House by saying on his talk show in July that perhaps Griner wouldn’t even want to come home to America since she was being treated so badly by her own government.

Second, in the summer of 2022, the White House was paying attention to the November elections. The Associated Press noted in March that President Joe Biden seemed to be shifting to the center, risking support from black and progressive constituencies within the Democratic Party.

Griner is not only a global figure, but she is also black and openly gay. CNN hosts noted that June that Griner might be the victim of homophobia in Russia. Back home, support for the basketball star might have been seen by the White House as a way to shore up its internal party position. In what was nearly a full-court press, the White House made public statements of support, enlisted foreign governments such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to lobby Russia, and only five months into her detention began making public trade offers to Moscow.

Ultimately, Griner was released in exchange for Viktor Bout , the “Merchant of Death” responsible for shipping arms all over the world, likely leading to thousands of deaths. Bout was originally intended to be exchanged for Paul Whelan, and then the Griner case emerged.

Every American should demand the release of U.S. citizens who have been wrongfully detained. Each case is different, but the context is the same. “Any American imprisoned in those countries, guilty or not, is likely being held either for propaganda purposes or as hostages to exchange for imprisoned Russians,” wrote Serge Schmemann, a member of the New York Times editorial board.

It’s hard to know what the liberal media have against the other Americans. That despite being a fellow journalist, Gershkovich must be a conservative since he writes for the Wall Street Journal? That Whelan must be guilty because he had a bad conduct discharge from the military 15 years ago? That Griner didn’t deserve punishment for medical drug possession while Fogel does?

The case of American hostages currently held by Hamas in Gaza is the only situation where media interest and top-level diplomatic efforts seem to coincide. The White House does not appear to be making much progress on freeing captive Americans from the clutches of Russia, China, and others, and thus the legacy media does not pay attention to their plight.

It’s a political, not editorial, decision to ignore them.

Tom Copeland, JD, is the director of research at the Centennial Institute. He writes regularly on public policy and the intersection of politics, culture, and religion. The views expressed by the author are his own do not represent the views of Centennial Institute or Colorado Christian University.