Since Israel began its war on the Gaza Strip after the October 7 attacks, internal strife has wracked the New York Times. The intensity of the debate reached its zenith in late December and January, amid a sustained fight over the paper’s claim that Hamas had systematically weaponized sexual violence on October 7.
Published on December 28, the story, headlined “Screams Without Words,” instantly served as a powerful reference in a mounting campaign waged by Israel and its supporters to convince the world that Hamas had implemented a systematic rape campaign against Jewish women on October 7. The article by Jeffrey Gettleman, Anat Schwartz, and Adam Sella also was met with skepticism by independent journalists and other analysts who combed through each line of the story highlighting inconsistencies and credibility issues with people presented as witnesses and experts.
Since the story’s publication, the internal dispute led to the shelving of an episode of “The Daily,” the paper’s flagship podcast, that was to be based on “Screams Without Words.” The fight over the podcast episode spilled into the pages of The Intercept, prompting a far-reaching leak investigation that the New York Times’s union alleged was carried out in a manner that singled out and discriminated against reporters of Middle Eastern and North African extraction. A Times spokesperson denied that it engaged in racial targeting.
On Monday, executive editor Joe Kahn told staff the leak probe was ending. “We did not reach a definitive conclusion about how this significant breach occurred. We did identify gaps in the way proprietary journalistic material is handled, and we have taken steps to address these issues,” Kahn wrote on a Times Slack channel message seen by The Intercept. “The breach that occurred should upset anyone who wants to have transparency in our editorial processes and to encourage candid exchanges. We work together with trust and collegiality every day on everything we produce, and I have every expectation that this incident will prove to be a singular exception to an important rule.”
In weeks leading up to the announcement that the probe was over, however, top officials in the Times newsroom justified the investigation and its conduct, according to newsroom sources and remarks at an April 4 meeting reviewed by The Intercept.
Internal concerns about the “Screams Without Words” article have been borne out by subsequent reporting from several media outlets, including The Intercept and the New York Times itself. The Times has not appended any major corrections to the December 28 story. Instead, the paper took the unusual step of inserting a bracketed “update” within the body of the story, with a link to a recent Times news article that undermines the original reporting.
Defending Leak Probe
Roughly 20 Times staffers were interviewed in the probe, which was led by Charlotte Behrendt, the chief of the paper’s internal investigations unit. Initially, Times leadership said, “The inquiry is focused narrowly on how internal materials were shared with outsiders.” In a March 5 statement, however, the New York Times Guild said this was not true and filed a grievance with the newspaper for discrimination against employees of Middle Eastern or North African background.
“Members faced extensive questions about their involvement in MENA ERG” — employee resource group — “events and discussions, and about their views of the Times’s Middle East coverage,” the union said. “Group leaders were asked to turn over the group’s membership list, as well as the names of all New York Times colleagues who had ‘raised concerns’ — in private discussions — about a published New York Times article.”
Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander said, “The claim that anyone was singled out based on ethnicity or associations is completely untrue.” (The New York Times Guild did not respond to a request for comment about whether the grievance process was ongoing.)
In the weeks leading up to the closing of the probe, the intensity of the internal debate over Gaza coverage in the newsroom calmed, several Times staffers have told The Intercept, and interviews that were supposed to take place as part of the leak investigation never did. This led some employees to speculate that the investigation was winding down.
In an April 4 meeting, however, staffers were left with the impression the leak probe was continuing, according to three newsroom sources. During the all-staff meeting, Kahn, the executive editor, was asked for an update on the investigation and whether any staffers had been disciplined.
“There is nothing really concrete that we can say about it right now beyond the fact just to re-emphasize that this inquiry was very narrowly focused just on one issue which was making sure that we can protect the confidentiality of the journalistic process,” Kahn said. “It’s just very important that we be able to have that process unfold with the full confidence that that will remain internal to our staff and not be revealed or leaked externally. So that’s really the focus of it.”
Times managing editor Carolyn Ryan told staffers at the meeting that the internal probe was more than a simple leak investigation.
“It doesn’t really capture the gravity of what occurred here and the kind of extraordinary nature of it,” she said. “You’re talking about sharing pre-publication, pre-broadcast materials that were clearly internal, confidential, and sensitive.”
Times editorial leaders alluded to new internal policy initiatives aimed at stanching leaks and external criticism of the paper by staffers.
The prohibition on criticizing or attacking colleagues or the journalism of the Times outside of the proper channels was emphasized by the management.
Following the announcement that the probe was over, The Intercept released a leaked Times style memo instructing journalists covering Israel’s war on Gaza to limit the use of certain terms. Additionally, the Times cut ties with Schwartz, an Israeli filmmaker who had freelanced for the paper and had been involved in reporting on a controversial story about sexual violence by Hamas. Schwartz’s social media activity was found to be unacceptable, leading to her removal from the paper. The Times initially stood by Schwartz’s reporting but later reviewed her social media activity and found it to be in violation of company policy. The controversy surrounding Schwartz intensified when it was discovered that some of her social media posts were offensive. The Times continued to stand by its reporting but removed Schwartz from the group chat used by journalists covering Gaza.
A story challenging the central allegations of sexual assault in the “Screams Without Words” report was published by The Intercept, casting doubt on the accuracy of the Times’ reporting. The arrival of a U.N. report further undermined the credibility of the Times’ story, yet the paper continued to defend its reporting. Video evidence later emerged that contradicted the paramedic’s description in the “Screams Without Words” report, further calling into question the accuracy of the Times’ reporting on the incident. The paper reported that 7 people were sexually assaulted, including an unnamed paramedic from an Israeli commando unit who was interviewed for an article by The New York Times. The Times later shared credit for its reporting with other media outlets after winning a George Polk Award. The article was submitted for the award but later updated to correct errors in reporting. Despite the corrections, the Times stood behind its reporting and the award it received. The Polk committee also confirmed its support for the citation and the award.
Source link
