The union that represents employees at the New York Times is accusing the paper of targeting employees with Middle Eastern and North African ancestry.
The controversy initially began when the Times made the decision to shelf an episode of its podcast, “The Daily,” that focused on covering the sexual violence being perpetrated by Hamas militants on the October 7 attack on Israel.
News that the Times had decided not to publish this episode was first covered by The Intercept, who spoke to sources from the Times newsroom about the issue. According to The Intercept’s sources, the Times was experiencing an internal debate about the story as well as the paper’s broader coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Following this expose, the Times launched an investigation to determine who the sources were that spoke to the Intercept and leaked internal documents. The expose further states that the employees questioned the credibility of the claims made in the episode, an allegation that the Times denied.
In a scathing letter addressed to NYT publisher A.G. Sulzberger, NewsGuild President Susan DeCarava outlined claims from union-backed employees suggesting that those who voiced dissent over the paper’s coverage of the recent Gaza conflict were singled out based on their national origin, ethnicity, and race.
DeCarava’s letter claims that during the Time’s investigation, employees who spoke out in disagreement of the paper’s coverage of Gaza were being “targeted for their national origin, ethnicity and race, creating an ominous chilling-effect across the newsroom and effectively silencing necessary and critical internal discussion.”
DeCarava goes on to claim that staff who were of Middle Eastern and North African descent experienced “particularly hostile questioning” from the paper, which included questions about their involvement and their opinions on the paper’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict. She also demanded that the paper “cease what has become a destructive and racially targeted witch hunt.”
A spokesperson for the Times responded to these allegations, stating that the claim employees were being targeted by their ethnicity is “preposterous.”
“While we aren’t going to comment on internal matters, as we’ve said before, the work of our newsroom requires trust and collaboration, and we expect all of our colleagues to adhere to these values.” the Times spokesperson said.
