NYT Shareholder Demands Accountability After Kristof Column

A New York Times shareholder is demanding access to company board and audit committee records following a controversial Nicholas Kristof column that accused Israeli prison guards of widespread sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners.

The National Center for Public Policy Research, a beneficial shareholder of The New York Times Company, has given the paper five days to respond to its demand or face court action. The group is represented by the National Jewish Advocacy Center.

The demand follows Kristof’s May 11 column, “The silence that meets the rape of Palestinians,” which included claims of sexual abuse by Israeli prison guards, including an allegation that guards trained dogs to commit rape. After publication, Israel announced plans to pursue a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times and Kristof.

The shareholder demand is not seeking reporter notes, drafts, confidential source identities or attorney work product. It is also not asking the paper to defend its editorial viewpoint. Instead, it seeks corporate records related to the company’s legal review, source verification and corrections procedures.

The central question is whether The New York Times’ board and senior management properly oversaw risks tied to publication of the column, including legal, reputational and financial exposure.

The NJAC argued that the issue became more serious after former prime minister Ehud Olmert, who was cited as an on-the-record source in the column, said after publication that his remarks had been misrepresented.

“When a columnist’s own quoted source publicly accuses the columnist of misrepresentation after publication, that is not a detail the company can wave away by noting the editors found no errors,” the group said.

NJAC CEO Mark Goldfeder said the paper tells shareholders that trust is one of its core assets, and therefore cannot hide records about its verification systems when that trust is challenged.

The demand also points to The New York Times Company’s own annual filing with the SEC, which states that its brand and reputation are key assets and that negative publicity could harm its business.

Goldfeder said defamation risk is not only a journalism issue, but a corporate risk that can create major financial exposure through legal costs, insurance issues and reputational damage. He cited Fox News’ $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems as an example of how publication-related failures can become major enterprise risks.

The New York Times rejected the demand’s framing, saying it was aware of the letter and describing it as “a clear attempt to chill First Amendment-protected journalism.”

The paper defended Kristof as a veteran journalist who has covered sexual violence in war and conflict zones for decades, and said its opinion editors were confident in the accuracy of his reporting.

The company said it would respond in due course.