NYT shareholders sue parent company in US — Jerusalem Post
In the United States, shareholders of The New York Times have filed a lawsuit against the publication’s parent company, demanding that the board of directors provide internal documents concerning compliance with editorial standards. The lawsuit was filed with the Supreme Court of New York County by the State Board of Administration of Florida and the National Center for Public Policy Research, the Jerusalem Post reports.
Demand to provide documents
The plaintiffs state that the company has failed to provide the requested records for four months, most of which concern coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas. The first request was sent on May 29 on behalf of the National Center for Public Policy Research by the National Jewish Advocacy Center. This happened after the publication on May 11 of Nicholas Kristof’s column, “The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians.”
The lawsuit states that The New York Times’ reputation as an independent news outlet is one of its most valuable assets. In the applicants’ view, the board of directors has not established sufficient oversight mechanisms for compliance with its own editorial standards and management of reputational risks.
Claims by the plaintiffs
The document mentions corrections and disputed materials, including those concerning the explosion at Al-Ahli Hospital in October 2023, as well as claims of errors in coverage of the war in Gaza. The plaintiffs also refer to statements by an unnamed former newsroom employee who, according to them, worked at The New York Times for about ten years.
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According to the account in the lawsuit, this employee stated that after Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, staff spent several weeks looking for evidence that Hamas did not use tunnels beneath Al-Shifa Hospital. She also claimed that on November 20, 2023, the head of the video department described these tunnels as “probable” during a morning meeting.
According to the lawsuit materials, the former employee submitted complaints through internal channels at least 15 times since 2019, including EthicsPoint, the editorial standards department, the employee relations department, and HR. She claimed that her complaints about newsroom work standards were not properly reviewed and that the internal reporting system eventually began to work against her.
The plaintiffs emphasize that they do not seek to influence editorial decisions. They demand documents which, in their view, may show whether the board of directors oversees compliance with the company’s editorial standards and related reputational risks.
