Shareholders Sue New York Times Over Israel Coverage

Florida's State Board of Administration filed a legal petition against The New York Times seeking internal records on Israel-Hamas war coverage and editorial oversight. James Uthmeier announced the filing at a Wednesday press conference after the SBA's prior document request went unanswered for four months. The SBA invests retirement funds for over 1.2 million employees. Uthmeier said the step concerns corporate governance, not a lawsuit or a challenge to a specific article, and pointed to SEC language treating brand and reputation as key assets. He cited 72 errors admitted in the Times correction column over eight months. Examples included a September 15 article that called Sharif Labad a Civil Defense rescue worker without noting the IDF identified him as a Hamas Nukhba force member, a story that has not been updated; a same-day photo caption stating bombs weighed 40,000 pounds when they weigh 2,000 pounds; and an editors' note on a NAZA documentary story about Gaza victimhood framing. David Benger, an attorney with the National Jewish Advocacy Center representing a former employee who raised antisemitism concerns over a dozen times from 2019 to 2026, said many readers have perceived a consistent anti-Jewish and anti-Israel bias for quite some time and that shareholders are entitled to see whether the board was watching at all. CONTESTED: Wire and many outlets describe a shareholder lawsuit in New York County Supreme Court that also names the National Center for Public Policy Research; Uthmeier said the petition is not a lawsuit. The Times had not immediately responded to requests for comment.