Pirate's Cove

I’ve been sitting on this story for several days. She’s still employed, which means the NY Times is fine with her actions, which are very much despicable, and violated the rules of employment for working at the Times

NYT reporter responsible for doxxing of 600 Australian Jews, to face legal action

A New York Times reporter based in Melbourne was responsible for the leak of personal information of over 600 Australian Jewish members of a WhatsApp Group earlier in 2024, according to a New York Times statement and Wall Street Journal investigation. The New York Times has announced that it will be taking legal action against the reporter, Natasha Frost, after she acknowledged the data breach.

The data was subsequently disseminated online, leading to mass doxxing, threats and harassment against the members of the group by pro-Palestine activists.

Frost, downloaded and shared 900 pages of content from the private WhatsApp group launched by multiple Australian Jews in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre and which become a “lifeline” to its members, according to New York Post and WSJ reports.

The incident, which happened in February, resulted in list called “Zio600,” which was used to threaten the people in the WhatsApp group, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency at the time.

The pro-Palestinian activists posted names, photos, and social media pages of many of the 600 members of the group, resulting in online and in-person harassment, threats, and vandalism, the WSJ said.

Frost has admitted she did this, though, has not said why.

A spokeswoman for the NYT said that said that “appropriate action” had been taken against Frost.

“It has been brought to our attention that a New York Times reporter inappropriately shared information with the subject of a story to assist the individual in a private matter, a clear violation of our ethics,” she said. “This was done without the knowledge or approval of The Times.”

What “appropriate action” was taken? Her profile is still on the NY Times, and, interestingly, includes this tidbit

I strive for accuracy, fairness and neutrality in my reporting. All Times journalists are committed to upholding the standards of integrity outlined in our Ethical Journalism Handbook. I do not participate in politics and I am always careful to identify myself as a reporter for The Times in news-related conversations.

Her stated job is European top stories for the European edition, but, she lives in Australia.  Jeffrey Blehar at National Review has a good, long summary of the Wall Street Journal article (which I do not have access to), and explains how this all happened. Many in the group were upset with anti-Semitic “local Australian woke cause célèbre Antoinette Lattouf.” Frost had been invited into the group, and, right before she leaked the names, she bolted the group. She then leaked the names to Lattouf herself, who then gave the names to a pro-Hamas group

For I am trying to imagine the circumstances under which a New York Times journalist — someone trained to be responsible with confidential sources — could, with such lifelong training, hand over the unedited monthslong private correspondence of her community to someone she had just written a piece about. Given the obviously related subject matter — discussions about Lattouf — I at least find it difficult to imagine doing this without malice aforethought. I will be honest, I don’t know how any responsible journalist could; even someone unprofessionally crossing the line to say “Listen, people I know really are pushing to get you canned” could easily have given Lattouf blind quotes. (Someone who does that is still a viper in my opinion, but at least one with some constraint.) What you don’t do is send 900 unredacted pages of free-flowing private conversations to a known bad actor. That speaks either of bad faith or irresponsibility so staggering as to beggar belief. Either one demands instant firing.

And yet Frost remains employed at the New York Times, a scandal beyond reckoning that, in a different era, everyone would be ablaze over. Australia itself is completely losing its gourd over this, just so you know — it is not some minor news story. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese went on the air to publicly denounce it, and an anti-doxxing bill is being introduced into Parliament as soon as this month, according to the Journal. Since Australia lacks our more robust free-speech principles, the incident may well result in heavy-handed censorship, English-style. Congratulations on triggering a potential free-speech clampdown in Australia because of your reporter, New York Times! Finally — you’re a truly global brand.

I do think Blehar is expecting better conduct from the NY Times than they deserve. Frost’s contact information has been removed from her Times webpage, and it looks like they are simply waiting for the clock to wind down on the story.