In a press conference, Uthmeier said that the Times’ credibility has been hurt by alleged “anti-Isarel bias” in its coverage of the ongoing conflict between the Israeli state and Gaza-based Hamas.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed a shareholder lawsuit against The New York Times, accusing the outlet and its board of directors of failing to exercise proper oversight over the paper’s editorial column.
In a press conference, Uthmeier said that the Times’ credibility has been hurt by alleged “anti-Isarel bias” in its coverage of the ongoing conflict between the Israeli state and Gaza-based Hamas.
The lawsuit seeks access to internal documents in an attempt to determine whether the paper’s board of directors allowed journalistic standards to be “weaponized within the company to serve the personal agendas of unchecked editors.”
Uthmeier emphasized that the lawsuit makes no claims of defamation; it is, instead, about the company and its directors’ duty to investors.
“When you’re a news agency, your credibility is everything,” he said. “The New York Times tells its own investors that its brand and reputation are its most important assets.”
A spokesperson for the Times has since pushed back on Uthmeier’s allegations.
“This lawsuit has no merit and was brought for an improper purpose,” spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander said. “Although it is positioned as a corporate governance petition to inspect the company’s books and records, it is a transparent attempt to exert agenda-driven pressure against an independent media organization, level false allegations of bias, and chill journalism protected by the First Amendment.”
The lawsuit, notes The New York Times itself, was filed jointly in New York County Supreme Court by the State Board of Administration of Florida—which oversees that state’s public pension fund—and the National Center for Public Policy Research, a right-wing thinktank.
Both Uthmeier and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are trustees for the SBA, which holds about 145,000 shares of stock in the New York Times.
“The Times says unreliable journalism is a material risk,” Uthmeier wrote on Twitter. “We asked if the board oversees its standards, and they refused to produce a single page.”
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, appears based—at least in part—off potentially uncorroborated claims made by an “unnamed former Times newsroom employee who worked there for a decade.” By 2019, the same worker had raised complaints about alleged anti-Israel bias but was reportedly told by a supervisor that “it’s not your job to be the ombudsman.” Later, a human resources representative told the employee that, if they didn’t like how the Times approaches Israel, they should perhaps “go find a place whose values align with yours.”
Sources
Florida Files Lawsuit Against The New York Times
Florida fund sues New York Times over alleged anti-Israel bias, demands records
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