Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has launched an inquiry into The New York Times, demanding internal company records that he argues could reveal whether editorial decisions have created legal and financial risks for shareholders, including Florida’s public retirement system, which holds millions of dollars in the company’s stock.
In a 28-page letter sent Monday, the Republican attorney general requested documents detailing how the newspaper reviewed several controversial stories and what information the company’s board received regarding potential legal exposure and financial liability stemming from those publications.
According to Uthmeier, the probe is “grounded in concrete corporate risk, not generalized dissatisfaction with editorial judgment.”
To support his argument, Uthmeier cited Fox News’ nearly $800 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, saying it demonstrates how editorial choices can have enormous financial consequences for publicly traded media companies and their investors.
“Editorial malpractice does not always kill a media enterprise,” Uthmeier wrote. “But it always sends a bill.”
The New York Times strongly rejected the attorney general’s actions, accusing him of attempting to pressure the newspaper over its reporting.
“We are aware of the demand letter, which, while positioned as a request under corporate law, is a clear attempt to chill First Amendment-protected journalism,” Danielle Rhoades Ha, the Times’ senior vice president for communications, said in a statement obtained by Politico.
“We will respond more fully in due course.”
Uthmeier contends that the newspaper has experienced “publicly documented failures” to adhere to its own editorial guidelines. He also alleges that its opinion section has been used to “publish reported factual assertions outside the newsroom’s verification controls.”
Among the central issues in the investigation is a May opinion column by Nicholas Kristof titled “The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians,” which alleged that Israeli authorities used dogs to rape Palestinian prisoners.
The column drew sharp condemnation from Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu, who threatened legal action and described it as “one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel.”
The Times defended the article and its reporting process, stating that Kristof’s work “underwent a rigorous vetting process by Opinion’s fact-checking department to ensure that every testimony and anecdote he personally reported was supported by independent sources, as is the case with all sensitive pieces.”
As part of the inquiry, Uthmeier is seeking records indicating whether The New York Times’ board of directors was informed about the controversy surrounding Kristof’s column and any resulting consequences. He is also requesting documents related to other reporting by the newspaper, including a June article involving former Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner.
“The Times tells investors that its brand and reputation are its most important assets, and that if people see its journalism as unreliable or biased, the company can be hurt,” Uthmeier said Monday.
“So, we want to exercise our rights under New York law to review the company’s internal board documents, meeting minutes, reports, and other materials, to see what the directors know.”
The attorney general has given the newspaper two weeks to produce the requested documents.
Florida’s retirement system has a financial stake in the outcome. According to a May filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Florida Retirement System owned 147,831 shares of The New York Times Company, valued at approximately $12.4 million. The pension fund provides benefits to more than 1.2 million current and former public employees and their beneficiaries.
{Matzav.com}
