New York Times vs. Egypt: Fallout from TV Talk Host Story

The Egyptian government, stung by last week’s story published by the New York Times alleging that an intelligence officer contacted four television talk hosts, asking them to treat the declaration by President Trump that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital lightly, and suggesting that Egyptian officials are okay with a future Palestinian capital in Ramallah instead of Jerusalem, has ordered the chief prosecutor to open an “urgent” investigation of the Times and its story. The move against a foreign newspaper is rare, and together with a cacophony of angry reactions from government and elected officials, and pundits, underscores the seriousness of the story. The reaction by the New York Times is that the story was “a deeply reported, consequential piece of journalism, and we stand fully behind it.”