NYT Worked Closely with State Government to Target Chassidim

 

Breitbart News obtained hundreds of pages of government emails, exposing the NY Times for working closely with New York State’s Education Dept to craft its disgraceful series of anti-Chassidic articles. 

In the groundbreaking story, Breitbart wrote:

The Times’ Eliza Shapiro…is seen in the massive volume of communications, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, discussing with the State Education Department how “we” can craft comment for the first story…targeting yeshivas, and giving the government almost a full business-week longer than the schools to comment. Emails also show she worked with the government to direct blame for the Times’ allegations, and coordinated timing on publishing with a vote to regulate the religious schools.”

The story added:

As Breitbart previously reported, the “investigation” dropped in what appeared to be unbelievable timing, the day before the Board of Regents held a unanimous vote, without debate, to allow state functionaries heavier say in the education of Orthodox children. Those children happen to be of parents vehemently opposed to the social justice curriculum that has been injected into most other New York schools.

The article observed that the two “journalists” were far more responsive to the government than to yeshivas. 

In one correspondence, Shapiro is seen working with the government to produce the state’s comment on the reporting, with almost a week longer to respond than the private religious schools being maligned.

“Hi! Hope all is well with you. We are aiming to publish the yeshiva investigation late next week and I wanted to walk you through it on a high level and we can talk about what might make sense for comment. I’m flexible today if you have some time. Thanks so much,” reporter Eliza Shapiro emailed then-Education Department Assistant Commissioner for Public Affairs, Emily DeSantis, on August 29. The subject line of that email was “Walking you through the yeshiva story.”

The story concluded with a stunning allegation, suggesting that Governor Kathy Hochul is targeting yeshivas as an act of revenge. 

The Hochul administration is using yeshiva regulations as a cudgel against the Hasidic community, which turned on Democrats in the last gubernatorial election, following the action taken against their children’s schools, according to a report in the Gothamist.

“As Zeldin made repeated stops in Hasidic neighborhoods, the Hochul administration was keeping close watch: Those who levied especially bad faith attacks on the governor, the source said, may find themselves cut out of future discussions about yeshiva oversight,” the article says in a stunning revelation, attributed to a person in the governor’s office who did not have permission to speak on the issue.