New York Times Faces Boycott by 300+ Writers, Public Figures Over Gaza Coverage

Over 300 writers, scholars, and public figures have declared a collective boycott of The New York Times’ opinion section, accusing it of “biased and unethical coverage” of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.

In the letter, titled “Genocide Is Not a Matter of Opinion,” the group said their decision stemmed from the newspaper’s “persistent alignment with the Israeli narrative” and its failure to deliver balanced coverage of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The writers accused The New York Times of leveraging its influence to “launder the U.S. and Israel’s lies.” They stressed that withholding their contributions is the most effective means of challenging the paper’s editorial authority.

“Until The New York Times takes accountability for its biased coverage and commits to truthfully and ethically reporting on the U.S.-Israeli war in Gaza, any putative ‘challenge’ to the newsroom or the editorial board in the form of a first-person essay is, in effect, permission to continue this malpractice,” the letter states.

Dozens of prominent activists, artists, and U.S. politicians, including Rima Hassan, Chelsea Manning, Rashida Tlaib, Sally Rooney, Elia Suleiman, Greta Thunberg, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Dave Zirin, signed the letter.

“Only by withholding our work can we mount an effective challenge to the dominant power that the paper has long used to whitewash the lies of the United States and Israel,” the statement says.

Figures who signed the letter include Chris Hedges, Marc Lamont Hill, Noura Erakat, Vijay Prashad, Mariame Kaba, Robin D.G. Kelley, Mohammed el-Kurd, Susan Stryker, Jia Tolentino, Eve L. Ewing, Dean Spade, Nyle Fort, Susan Abulhawa, and Rashid Khalidi.

NYT Journalistic Missteps in Gaza Coverage

As part of the boycott, the letter outlined three key demands for the Times to address. First, it calls for “a review of anti-Palestinian bias” in its reporting, with new editorial standards for Palestinian issues, adopting updated practices in sourcing and quoting to ensure balanced narratives, and developing a new style guide for describing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

They also emphasized the need to bar any journalist with service in the Israeli military from working at the paper, arguing that this is the bare minimum for professional neutrality.

Additionally, the writers called for the retraction of a largely debunked report on alleged sexual violence on October 7, titled “Screams Without Words,” which relied heavily on the account of an unnamed Israeli special forces paramedic who alleged that Palestinians involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack committed sexual assaults against Israeli women. A spokesperson for the kibbutz later denied the allegations reported by the Times.

The letter also called on the Times to publish an editorial advocating for a U.S. arms embargo on Israel. Referencing the Times’ past updates to its style guide during the 1980s AIDS crisis and its public apology for flawed reporting on the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, the letter asserts that “these demands are neither impossible nor unreasonable.”

“We owe it to the journalists and writers of Palestine to refuse complicity with the Times, and to demand that the paper account for its failures, such that it can never again manufacture consent for mass slaughter, torture, and displacement,” the letter states.

How Israel Shapes Western Media Coverage

The boycott marks one of the most significant acts of protest by contributors against a major American newspaper since the start of the Gaza war, reflecting growing discontent among journalists, academics, and writers over Western media coverage of the conflict.

It underscores rising frustration with mainstream Western media’s coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Critics contend that outlets like The New York Times have repeatedly presented the war through a pro-Israel lens, downplaying Palestinian suffering and framing military operations—despite their heavy civilian toll—as justified actions.

In November 2023, protesters gathered at The New York Times headquarters in Manhattan, chanting “Free Palestine” and handing out a spoof broadsheet titled The New York War Crimes, which listed thousands of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks.

Editors at the paper instructed journalists to avoid using “inflammatory” terms such as “genocide,” “ethnic cleansing,” and “occupied territory”—and even to refrain from saying “Palestine.” Headline writers have manipulated language and syntax to downplay U.S. and Israeli atrocities while shifting blame onto Palestinians for their own suffering. Meanwhile, reporters have published unverified claims from the Israeli military as fact.

Moreover, a January 2024 investigation by The Intercept found that The NYT and other Western media outlets aired false or misleading reports in the early weeks of the war. Across mainstream Western outlets, from the Washington Post to the Los Angeles Times, the pattern repeated the Israeli government’s claims as fact, while Palestinian voices were marginalized or erased.

Pro-Israel Fellowship Recruits Journalists From NYT and CNN

As global public support for Israel wanes amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza, a new journalism fellowship has been launched with the goal of “reshaping the narrative” in Israel’s favor. According to an investigation revealed by Drop Site News, the initiative is supported by prominent journalists from major media outlets such as The New York Times and CNN.

Established in 2025 and funded by pro-Israel donors, the Jacki and Jeff Karsh Journalism Fellowship describes itself as “the world’s only journalism fellowship solely dedicated to Jewish topics.” Although the program presents itself as nonpartisan, its founder has openly acknowledged its underlying political intent.

Karsh, a Los Angeles-based journalist and longtime board member of the Jewish Federation, conceived the fellowship in direct response to what she called a “war of information” following the events of October 7, 2023.

Other fellowship mentors include Jodi Rudoren, former New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief, now head of The Times’ flagship newsletters including The Morning and DealBook; Sharon Otterman, a New York Times reporter covering education, health, and religion—most recently the wave of campus protests in solidarity with Palestine; and Van Jones, CNN commentator, who apologized after minimizing the impact of images showing dead Palestinian children on Real Time with Bill Maher.

The Karsh Fellowship is backed by the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, an organization that lists support for “a secure State of Israel” among its central goals. Fellowship materials show that its sessions will include topics such as “Middle East Misinformation” and “How to Cover Anti-Semitism”—framing approaches that have often been used elsewhere to discredit criticism of Israeli policies or advocacy for Palestinian rights.

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