Hasidic school district says NY Times on a 'mission' to target Orthodox Jews with reporting, not journalism
Fox News
The latest installment of The New York Times' reporting on Hasidic schools is facing backlash with accusations that it is fueling antisemitism towards Orthodox Jews.
The report, titled "How Public Money Goes to Support a Hasidic Village’s Private Schools," suggested that the taxpayer-funded school district was misappropriating its spending, which is already under a bureaucratic microscope by the state. Joseph A. Wulfsohn is a media reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to joseph.wulfsohn@fox.com and on Twitter: @JosephWulfsohn.
"I got the vibe that he was sent on a mission, and that mission was not to present a fair picture of the community or of the school district," Joel Petlin said about Times investigative reporter Jay Root. "I spent literally hours and hours with the reporter explaining things, discussing issues, reviewing material, explaining how things work. And he really came to the table with a bias because he's an investigative journalist with literally zero experience with education issues, with federal grant issues, with any coverage of schools, anything about the Jewish community… He came with an assignment, and that assignment was to find whatever financial dirt he could on the school district."
"And I don't believe that he uncovered anything that's shocking. I mean, all of our transactions are aboveboard. Everything that we do is reviewed by the state. We have auditors that are constantly reviewing our program and reviewing our financial matters," Petlin added.