Hackedly Obtained Documents from a White Supremacist Group Used in Recent Mamdani Article Sparks Controversy
In a move that has sparked debate and controversy, the New York Times published an article about Zohran Mamdani, a New York mayoral candidate, on Thursday. The article, based on documents stolen in a hack of Columbia University’s computer systems, has since become the subject of significant discussion regarding sourcing, newsworthiness, and race.
The source of the hacked materials, known as Crémieux, was recently revealed to be Jordan Lasker, a promoter of white supremacist views. However, the person known as Cremieux is not identified as the anonymous source behind the New York Times article about Zohran Mamdani. Instead, the intermediary who shared the hacked information from Columbia University’s systems with the New York Times was Jordan Lasker, who credited the hacker pseudonym "Anime Nazi" as the origin of the data.
Patrick Healy, the assistant managing editor for standards and trust at the Times, defended the article’s publication, stating that it was important, factual, and confirmed by Mamdani. Healy acknowledged fair feedback from readers seeking more information about the source of the hacked materials.
Jane Kirtley, a media ethics professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, raised ethical concerns about the paper’s handling of the source and the promise of anonymity. Kelly McBride, the chair of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership at the Poynter Institute, expressed similar concerns, stating that the Times did not provide more information about the source upfront.
Mamdani, of Indian descent, born in Uganda and lived in South Africa before moving to the US, checked boxes indicating he was both "Asian" and "Black or African American" during a college application to Columbia in 2009. It is important to note that Mamdani was not admitted to the school.
The Times newsroom is taking a firm line to pushback, with executive editor Joe Kahn emphasizing the need to take on controversial stories despite potential scrutiny and backlash. Late on Friday, the Times recognized the ferocity of the public outcry and closed comments on the Mamdani story, posting a survey about the college admissions process instead.
Interestingly, the Times declined to publish Trump campaign documents concerning JD Vance that were thought to have been stolen by Iranian-backed hackers last summer. Many commenters suggested that the Mamdani story failed to rise to the level of a scoop and instead treated a mundane matter of personal identification as a scandal.
In a related development, Jamelle Bouie, a Times opinion columnist, deleted posts criticizing the article about Zohran Mamdani due to violating Times social media standards. The Times updated its article to note that Crémieux "writes often about IQ and race."
As the debate continues, it is clear that the publication of the article has raised questions about journalistic ethics, the role of hacked materials in reporting, and the importance of transparency in sourcing. The New York Times, in its response, has emphasized the importance of factual reporting and the need to tackle controversial stories, even in the face of public outcry.
