The breach of journalistic ethics has caused outrage around the world, but so far there have been no consequences.
Pro-Palestinian demonstration in Sydney on October 9, 2023.
Dean Lewins / Reuters
Reporter Natasha Frost has an interesting CV: Austrian-British dual citizen, grew up in New Zealand and Singapore, graduated from Oxford University and New York’s Columbia School of Journalism, a journalistic training ground. This is also why, after gigs at the BBC, among others, she has been reporting for the New York Times from Melbourne, Australia, since 2020., where she also writes – thanks to the time difference! – the daily NYT newsletter “The Europe Morning Briefing”.
The media scandal that Frost is said to have unleashed, according to the Wall Street Journal, is almost as international. After October 7, 2023, she joined a private Australian WhatsApp group. Its approximately 600 members are Jewish citizens from the creative industries and the academic milieu. They organized themselves against the anti-Semitism that is also flaring up in Australia. Some members of the WhatsApp group are also said to have caused the cancellation of an ABC radio show.
ABC presenter Antoinette Lattouf, an Australian of Lebanese origin, had criticized Israel’s alleged starvation of Gaza on social networks as an unfair means of war, thereby violating her terms of employment.
Attacks by vandals
Lattouf filed a lawsuit against her dismissal. Parallel to this process, Lattouf’s supporters staged a campaign. Among other things, names, photos and addresses of members of the WhatsApp group were published. The group, wrote one anti-Israel activist, was a prime example of how “Palestinian activists and their allies” were to be silenced.
The consequences were not long in coming. Pro-Palestinian activists sent hate messages and threats to the members of the WhatsApp group. Shops were attacked by vandals. A teacher reported that she had been insulted and threatened as an accomplice to a “genocide”.
In January of this year, Natasha Frost reported on the ugly events for the New York Times. She did not, however, disclose that she was partly responsible for them. As the Wall Street Journal reported in August – and Frost confirmed – the journalist had downloaded 900 pages of private chat logs from the WhatsApp group, including personal data. She shared this data with someone, presumably with the fired presenter Antoinette Lattouf. She passed the file on, with the consequences mentioned above.
Embarrassing apologies
The New York Times finds the matter embarrassing. The fact that the newspaper apologized and assured that Natasha Frost acted on her own initiative without involving the editorial staff does not change this. Frost herself also apologized for the “mistake.” Frost explained that she had only passed the data on to one person and that the “misuse” had occurred without her knowledge or consent.
Frost joined a private WhatsApp group without first mentioning her journalistic work. She quietly collected personal data and distributed it. This is a serious breach of journalistic practices. It is unclear whether the violation of the privacy of those affected is justiciable. But the Australian police have been involved since April.
The reporter’s transgression is making waves around the world. American media in particular are demanding consequences. The New York Times has not taken any action by the time of going to press. Frost is continuing to work on her morning briefing for Europe. “Attacks by Israel and Hezbollah” is the title of one of her most recent briefings, as if it were unclear who was responsible for the aggression.
According to Justice Minister Mark Dreyfus, the Australian government is considering new laws to protect privacy, publish personal information and criminalize doxing, i.e. publishing sensitive data against the will of those affected. In the age of Wikileaks and “disinformation,” this is a sensitive issue worldwide. If the new rules are too comprehensive or harsh, journalistic reporting and freedom of the press could also be restricted, including on social networks.
