Shareholders of The New York Times Company filed a lawsuit in New York County Supreme Court on Wednesday, demanding internal records that show how the board oversees editorial standards and fact-checking. The petition was filed by the State Board of Administration of Florida and the National Center for Public Policy Research, which argue that the paper's coverage of the Israel-Hamas war reveals a failure in corporate governance.
The plaintiffs claim that The New York Times has a history of "materially false or baseless factual assertions." They cite a peer-reviewed study published in 2024, which found that the newspaper admitted to 72 errors in its coverage between October 2023 and June 2024. Of those errors, 48 concerned Israel. The petition states that corrections for these errors were often late, vague, or evasive.
According to the filing, the plaintiffs' investigation found no board-level committee or independent oversight function charged with assessing compliance with the paper's own editorial standards. The petition alleges that while the company adopted internal controls against biased reporting, there was no mechanism for information about compliance to reach the board. It further claims that board members who also serve as company executives were aware of gross violations but refused to take corrective action.
The lawsuit specifically highlights a May 11, 2026, opinion column by Nicholas Kristof titled "The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians." The shareholders allege that the sourcing and claims in this column were publicly criticized and shown to be exaggerated and unsupported. Additionally, the petition cites a whistleblower who reportedly told Human Resources about anti-Israel bias in reporting and was allegedly told to find a workplace whose values aligned with their own.
Gerard Filitti, senior counsel with The Lawfare Project, provided details to Fox News Digital regarding the case. He noted that in May, his organization sent a seven-page retraction demand concerning the Kristof column. Filitti said the demand documented that the column's primary source is chaired by a man on Israel's list of Hamas operatives who described October 7 attackers as "heroic knights." He also stated that the validating expert left UCLA amid sexual harassment allegations involving minors.
Filitti said that the Times's deputy general counsel responded that there was "no basis for a retraction or correction" because the story was carefully edited and fact-checked. However, he noted that less than two months later, the paper's executive editor said the newsroom "wouldn't have done that exact piece." Filitti added that the petition includes other records, such as a front-page caption calling a Gaza child "born healthy" that was walked back five days later, and a federal jury's finding in August that the Times was liable for defamation.
The New York Times rejected prior demands for these records, stating that such requests do not serve a proper purpose and violate the First Amendment. The company characterized the demands as "transparently pretextual and made in bad faith" and described them as coordinated harassment seeking day-to-day business records.
A spokesperson for The New York Times dismissed the lawsuit in comments to Fox News Digital. The paper stated that the suit has no merit and was brought for an improper purpose. It argued that although positioned as a corporate governance petition, it is an attempt to exert agenda-driven pressure against an independent media organization and chill journalism protected by the First Amendment. The company said it will defend against the suit vigorously.