April 30, 2024 (EIRNS)—The New York Times, so concerned that the American public has access to accurate information so as not to be subjected to foreign disinformation campaigns, has been caught with its hand in the cookie jar. According to the Washington Post, 50 professors of journalism are calling for an independent investigation, but the Times still has not retracted the story, or even published a correction. These professors acknowledge that covering current events is not a perfect science, allowing some inaccuracies from time to time, but say that any serious journalist committed to truth seeking would be eager to reassess his or her work.
On Dec. 28, 2023, the Times ran the “investigative” headline, “‘Screams without Words': Sexual Violence on October 7,” suggesting that they had evidence that a Hamas fighter sexually assaulted an Israeli woman and then killed her during the Oct. 7 attack. Immediately the story began to fall apart. Stories from eyewitnesses did not match, the family of the woman were skeptical of the report, and a video proved several premises to be false. Even the Times's own reporters for its podcast “The Daily,” recognized flaws in the story and refused to air the episode.
