Florida Pension Fund Sues New York Times Over Alleged Anti-Israel Bias, Seeks Records

Florida's state-run pension fund and a conservative think tank sued The New York Times on Wednesday, seeking internal records to determine whether the company's board permitted biased editorial coverage against Israel. The State Board of Administration of Florida, which oversees the Florida Retirement System Trust Fund, and the National Center for Public Policy Research filed the petition in New York state court in Manhattan. Both are Times shareholders and said New York law entitled them to inspect records, but the newspaper refused. "This lawsuit has no merit and was brought for an improper purpose," Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander said, calling it a transparent attempt to exert agenda-driven pressure and chill First Amendment-protected journalism. The petition draws partly on claims by an unnamed former newsroom employee who worked at the Times for a decade and began complaining in 2019 about alleged anti-Israel bias. The SBA oversees more than 1.2 million retirees and reported about $235.7 billion in assets under management as of August 31.