WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The founder of the investigative Project Veritas James O’Keefe has exposed in a video that a New York Times editor used his connections at YouTube to get his newspaper’s videos on the front page of the platform.
O’Keefe published on his Project Veritas website two videos recorded with a hidden camera.
The first video reveals New York Times Audience Strategy Editor Nicholas Dudich claiming he can manipulate social media platforms to get advantage for the newspaper’s content.
Why does the @nytimes get special treatment from @YouTube, and who gets to decide what is considered "legitimate news?" #AmericanPravda pic.twitter.com/1T4uyZ0asP
— Project Veritas (@Project_Veritas) 11 октября 2017 г.
"As an editor, I’m a gatekeeper so I can choose what goes out and what doesn’t go out," Dudich said. "Any video that goes on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram — I have a hand in that."
When asked about a conflict of interest with regard to his ties at YouTube, Dudich said, "No, keeping it hush-hush because, let’s say something ends up on the YouTube front page."
In the second video, YouTube’s Brand and Diversity Curation Lead Earnest Pettie acknowledges human intervention is used to get videos in the trending tab.
NEW #AmericanPravda shows @nytimes editor saying his Silicon Valley friends help him push NYT content…
— Project Veritas (@Project_Veritas) 11 октября 2017 г.
FULL video: https://t.co/jIB2KmsL54 pic.twitter.com/wR3wmGhjD3
The New York Times issued a statement in response saying while they are reviewing the Project Veritas videos, based on what the newspaper has seen, "it appears that a recent hire in a junior position violated our ethical standards and misrepresented his role."
"In his role at The [New York] Times, he was responsible for posting already published video on other platforms and was never involved in the creation or editing of Times videos," the statement said. "We are reviewing the situation now."
YouTube has not yet responded to Sputnik’s request for comment on the latest Project Veritas video reports.
Founded by James O'Keefe, an American conservative political activist, Project Veritas sees its mission as to "investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions in order to achieve a more ethical and transparent society."
