50+ academics sound alarm, call on NYT to review its Oct. 7 report

Over 50 eminent journalism professors and scholars from leading US and Canadian universities have demanded a thorough external review of The New York Times' "investigative piece" on claimed sexual violence during the surprise Hamas raid on Israel on October 7 last year.

The academics, representing top-notch institutions like New York University, the University of Pennsylvania, Emory, Northwestern, and the University of Texas among others, pressed the newspaper on Monday to enlist a team of journalism experts to conduct an independent and comprehensive examination of the reporting, editorial procedures, and overall publication process behind the story, with the results to be made public.

"The impact of The New York Times story is impossible to fathom," the professors wrote in a letter.

"This is wartime and in the minds of many people, the Times' story fuelled the fire at a pivotal moment when there might have been an opportunity to contain it before, as the International Court of Justice has ruled, the situation devolved into the "plausible" realm of genocide.

Considering these grave circumstances, we believe that the Times must waste no time in extending an invitation for an independent review."

The extensive "investigative article", titled "Screams Without Words: Sexual Violence on Oct 7", written by international correspondent Jeffrey Gettleman and two freelancers, accused Palestinian resistance group Hamas of sexual assault during the raid. Doubts about its accuracy emerged shortly after publication.

Family members of one of the featured victims contested the assertion that she had been sexually abused, while inconsistencies in the testimony of other cited witnesses added to the skepticism.

The letter to the newspaper, addressed to publisher A.G. Sulzberger, executive editor Joe Kahn, and international editor Philip Pan, underscores the importance of independent review of the discredited NYT story, which Israel reportedly utilised to garner public support for its invasion of Gaza.

'Under a dark shadow'

The article faced scrutiny soon after publication, with investigative work attributed not only to Gettleman but also two relatively inexperienced freelancers stationed in Israel.

Notably, one of them, Anat Schwartz, a "former Israeli air force intelligence official," faced severance from The Times after her online endorsement of turning Gaza into a "slaughterhouse" came to light.

Various US news outlets like The Intercept highlighted Schwartz's reliance on interviews with a dodgy rescue group known for mishandling evidence and disseminating multiple false narratives about the events of October 7, including debunked claims of Hamas operatives indulging in abuse.

"It is important that The New York Times clarify the processes through which these freelancers, especially Schwartz, were vetted and how their work landed on page one. It appears that extraordinary trust was invested in these individuals and The Times would benefit from publicly explaining the circumstances that justified such unusual reliance on freelancers for such an important story," the letter said.

The letter reminded NYT of "presenting evidence of the flaws in its own reporting."

"A story that appeared in the March 26, 2024 issue of The Times, reported that new video evidence 'undercut' some important details included in the December 31 story by Gettleman, Schwartz and Sella. In what appears to be an unusual decision, The Times added an 'update' to the online version of 'Screams Without

"Doing nothing, however, and allowing a cloud of doubt to hang over this historically consequential story will ensure that all the journalism that The New York Times produces in the course of this conflict will remain under a dark shadow," the letter concludes.