Abstract

When basketball star Brittney Griner was arrested in a Moscow airport in February 2022 and eventually charged with drug smuggling, media coverage was abundant, both in mainstream outlets and more explicitly ideological publications. As an outspoken Black athlete activist and out-lesbian, Griner had already emerged as a prominent cultural figure. This article uses content analysis to examine and compare mainstream and conservative media coverage of the international imbroglio, beginning in March 2022, when journalists revealed that Griner was apprehended in Russia, and ending in December 2022, when the US government secured her release in a high-profile prisoner swap with convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout. We pinpoint the predominant frames that media deployed when covering the situation and its aftermath. Also, we tabulate who journalists turned to for comment in the articles and explore how sourcing decisions affected frame emergence. Mainstream media coverage largely framed Griner’s detainment as a Russia problem while, after Griner’s release, conservative media used the opportunity to blast President Joseph Biden for his handling of the situation. This research spotlights how official actors and sources wield enormous influence over the framing of events, issues, and problems in the news media as mediated by sourcing selection and reliance on baseline journalistic norms.