New York Times Says Correspondent’s Antisemitism Is None of Its Business

The Nation, a Pakistani publication edited by the New York Times’s Pakistan correspondent, which in August announced a local licensing agreement with the paper, published an article last week claiming that the “Jewish lobby” and supporters of LGBTQ rights were behind a recent letter issued by dozens of U.S. lawmakers calling for the release of imprisoned Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan.

The article in The Nation, which is edited by New York Times Pakistan correspondent Salman Masood, and which partners with the Times to license its international content, is sourced to a dossier provided to Pakistani journalists by the nation’s security services. The article claims to offer important background information on the ideological motivations and even ethnic backgrounds of lawmakers who signed the letter. “In a recent development,” the English-language article reads, 

“…it has come to light that the US congressmen who urged President Biden to intervene for the release of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan are reportedly associated with the Jewish lobby and have been accused of pursuing an anti-Pakistan agenda. 

Over 60 members of the US House of Representatives signed a letter directed at President Biden, asking him to pressure the Pakistani government to secure Khan’s release. The PTI has claimed this letter as a significant victory, viewing it as a push in favor of their incarcerated leader.

However, investigations into the affiliations of these congressmen revealed a troubling pattern. Among the signatories, 21 are identified as anti-Pakistan, while 13 are pro-India. Additionally, 29 members have been noted for their support of Israel on various issues. 

Contacted by Drop Site, a spokesperson for the New York Times defended the relationship with Masood, a correspondent for the Times in Pakistan since 2001, describing him as a contract reporter for the paper, and adding that many of its contract reporters are engaged in other projects independent of the Times, for which it is not responsible. The Times also said that the article in question would not have met their editorial standards, adding that they license content to news outlets worldwide and have no say in their editorial process or decision-making.

This hands-off attitude seems to be exceptional. In multiple instances, the Times has, for example, fired reporters for making comments on the Israel-Palestine conflict deemed out of step with its editorial practices. In 2022, Palestinian freelance photojournalist Hosam Salem was fired after a pro-Israel media watchdog group surfaced social media posts it claimed expressed support for Hamas, and other Palestinian contributors have also been dismissed for social media activity deemed antisemitic. 

The article in The Nation, published on October 26, came amid a flurry of Pakistan-related activity in Washington that saw multiple letters issued by members of Congress demanding the U.S. government take a stand on the deteriorating human rights situation in the country. 

Following the release of these letters, the dossier almost immediately began circulating among Pakistani journalists, claiming to identify the number of lawmakers who had signed on who were either “Jewish,” “pro-Israel,” “LGBT supporters,” or otherwise hostile to Pakistan or supportive of its arch-rival India. Khan, whose ex-wife is Jewish, has been subject to an ongoing campaign characterizing him and his family as secret agents of Israel set to undermine Pakistan.

Not finished with this journalistic bombshell, the article adds another conspiratorial flourish: “Further scrutiny indicates that a substantial number of these legislators—50 out of the 60—have also publicly advocated for LGBTQ rights, raising concerns about the motivations behind their support for Khan.”

Drop Site asked the State Department for comment on the The Nation article, as well as the antisemitic campaign against the members of Congress more broadly. Though the State Department has been a tireless supporter of Pakistan’s military regime and security services, the claims in the dossier drew an unusual rebuke from spokesperson Matt Miller. 

“I saw some of the social media postings and some of the stories to which you were referring,” said Miller at a televised briefing. “I can tell you we don’t know who is behind circulating that information ultimately; but that if people have issues that they want to engage with regarding U.S. officials – whether they be Executive Branch officials or officials from the United States Congress – they should engage on the merits of those issues and not by talking about people’s religion or sexual orientation.”

The article on The Nation does not have a byline, attributing it to the “web desk.” The Nation lists only two editorial staffers on its About Us page. Masood is named as an editor, a title that he also touts on his Twitter profile alongside his New York Times affiliation, alongside Rameeza Majid Nizami, the owner and editor-in-chief of the publication, who also owns a separate Urdu-language publication called Nawa-i-Waqt.

In the Pakistani media, unlike in the United States, owners are often listed as editor-in-chief of their publications, though day-to-day editorial matters are usually delegated to others. Nawa-i-Waqt has published antisemitic narratives in its Urdu language paper, including an article in 2021 entitled, “Jews, a deceptive nation”. 

According to a former employee of The Nation, as editor Masood has been highly active in shaping the coverage of that paper. In text messages from 2023 shared by Israr Ahmed Rajpoot, a former reporter, Masood issued orders to delete tweets critical of a housing development in Islamabad that was linked to official corruption, in addition to other instructions for reporters about stories to run on their website.

“Not a single word that is published in The Nation is done without Salman [Masood]’s approval,” said Rajpoot, who worked at the publication for nearly two decades. “Every story, report, and analysis is done with his approval—he’s the editor.”

Rajpoot was dismissed from The Nation amid a fight with Masood over his coverage of the housing development, which the publication attributed to other personnel issues in a public statement.

When reached for comment, Masood said that he was not responsible for the story, stating that, “I was not involved in either assigning or editing this story. This story has a web desk byline. You can talk to the web editor Ms. Sana Iqbal regarding any questions you have.” Iqbal in turn told Drop Site that the story was “picked up after it was highlighted by several channels through on-air tickers and published by some digital news agencies,” adding, “If you have an alternate version of the story, please feel free to share it with me.”

Shortly after this exchange, The Nation scrubbed the article from its site.

As the New York Times correspondent in Pakistan, Masood has had an important role in shaping its coverage, including during recent years that have seen the country paralyzed by a standoff between army chief Asim Munir and supporters of Khan’s party.

After rigged national elections this February, Masood wrote, “General Munir must now decide whether to have some sort of reconciliation with Mr. Khan or barrel ahead and force a coalition of anti-Khan politicians, one that many analysts believe would be weak and unsustainable. In a public statement on Saturday, General Munir called for unity and healing, a sign some read as a willingness to engage with Mr. Khan.”

No such unity or healing has taken place, as the situation in Pakistan has only become more draconian under military rule. Yet the Times has largely ignored the nationwide protest movement gaining steam against the ruling regime. The main article the Times did produce on the subject was not written by Masood, despite his role as the paper’s Pakistan correspondent.

The Times’ coverage of Pakistan during Masood’s tenure has studiously avoided mention of the U.S. role in helping push for the no-confidence vote that led to Khan’s removal, despite confirmation from the Pakistani government itself of leaked confidential documents related to the matter. It has also avoided coverage of the ongoing coordination between the U.S. and the new military-backed regime, whose ties have only deepened as the country descends into authoritarianism. 

The Pakistani press has been viciously suppressed over the past two years, with journalists killed, imprisoned, or otherwise intimidated into silence—particularly those who have raised their voices over worsening political freedoms in the country. The Nation seems to have largely evaded the dragnet. In August of last year, while the crackdown continued to rage on, Masood posted photos on Twitter of himself hosting then-Information Minister Murtaza Solangi at the publication’s offices in Islamabad. In 2016, Masood’s home was raided by Pakistani authorities, who later apologized for the raid.

The relationship between the Times and The Nation deepened further this year. This August, Nizami announced that The Nation had reached an agreement with the Times to republish the paper’s weekend international supplement for Pakistani readers.

The dossier that The Nation and other outlets published this week appears to be part of a ham-handed strategy by the country’s security services, working with supportive journalists, to defend their ongoing crackdown on Pakistan’s civil society, as well as Khan’s now-banned political party, by characterizing opponents at home and abroad as parties to a grand Jewish or LGBTQ conspiracy against the country.

That crackdown is finally starting to gain the attention of U.S. lawmakers. In addition to demanding a course correction in the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, the letters issued this month by U.S. lawmakers also mentioned the fate of Khan himself, who remains behind bars in dire conditions. 

In a statement issued today through his lawyers, Khan said the following:

“The way I’ve been caged and mentally tortured is extremely low and disgraceful. They’ve treated me worse than an animal. But I won’t bow down or step back even an inch, I will keep fighting till last for my people. The government has lost its credibility and can’t manage the economy. An independent judiciary is the only guarantor of the rule of law. Only with a free judiciary can the rule of law be established.

There will be no deal of any kind. We will continue our protest for upholding the rule of law. We do not accept the 26th Constitutional Amendment; those who voted for it, committed betrayal. I spend 12 to 14 hours in a dark room without electricity, but I will never compromise on my principles or back down from my stance. They cannot break me and there will be no deal. I stand firm, and I want my people to remain steadfast as well.”

The confrontation between Pakistan and newly galvanized U.S. lawmakers appears to be escalating. In response to the statements issued by Congress, last week over 150 parliamentarians in Pakistan issued a letter calling on the government to confront the U.S. over what it called “unsubstantiated political propaganda.”

The Nation meanwhile, is becoming increasingly crude in its efforts to rally support for the military’s draconian policies. In its story claiming to explain the ideological factors driving the congressional outcry about Pakistan, the publication warned readers that, “this situation underscores the growing influence of anti-Pakistani forces in the US, as they seek to bolster their ‘asset’ in Pakistan by rallying for Imran Khan’s freedom.”