In that case I have to go back to disagreeing with you.
It is harder to sue the NYT in America. However it is far from impossible, and in this case I believe that they have solid enough evidence to make a fair legal case for libel.
That said, they really would prefer to win this in the court of public opinion now, rather than in a lawsuit that finishes several years from now. (They probably want to do both.) And they would probably prefer to settle this out of court rather than having to go through courts.
Well....I never meant to imply that it was "impossible" for them to go to court, just that it may not make much sense - given that they had similar evidence against Top Gear in a very libel-lawsuit-centric jurisdiction and their case got thrown out.
We will see what, if any, legal action they take. If anything, I suspect it would probably be against the journalist and less the company. I can't see the company standing behind Broder's statements - given these facts.
It is harder to sue the NYT in America. However it is far from impossible, and in this case I believe that they have solid enough evidence to make a fair legal case for libel.
That said, they really would prefer to win this in the court of public opinion now, rather than in a lawsuit that finishes several years from now. (They probably want to do both.) And they would probably prefer to settle this out of court rather than having to go through courts.
As always, IANAL, TINLA.