NYT and The Athletic workers demand company scrap Kalshi deal
New York Times and The Athletic workers demand company scrap Kalshi deal
Unionized staff at The New York Times and The Athletic have unanimously approved a statement demanding the company abandon a potential partnership with Kalshi, a prediction market platform. The workers argue the deal threatens journalistic independence, citing New York officials' characterization of Kalshi as an "illegal operation" and an investigation by the state's attorney general that found it to be an unlicensed gambling operation. They warn that integrating Kalshi's data into The Athletic's journalism could compromise readers' trust.
Any partnership between Kalshi and The Athletic would threaten our journalistic independence across the company.
- tantalor
The linked article is pretty interesting:
> found a pattern of [Polymarket] sharing false and misleading information
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/technology/polymarket-soc...
They don't have much to say about Kalshi other than "unlike real mainstream journalism, there’s no accountability". Which isn't saying much, because nobody is claiming prediction markets are a type of journalism.
- mikeryan
I really don’t understand how these markets survive a competent DOJ considering the rate they’re having to ban people for “insider trading”. Fully appreciate the Unions position here.
- 1vuio0pswjnm7
Ken Paxton went after gambling in Texas but stays hands off on Kalshi | https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/03/ken-paxton-kalshi-t...
"Paxton didn’t sign on to attempts to regulate Kalshi after the prediction market platform and its CEO donated to him and his PAC."
- burkaman
This is about stopping a potential deal (https://frontofficesports.com/article/the-athletic-serious-t...), nothing finalized yet. They have allegedly abandoned the idea and claim that isn't because of the union demands: https://frontofficesports.com/article/new-york-times-union-k....
- mag7269
Got really confused as why my granola bar company was signing a deal with the NYT and The Athletic, and why this was deemed so controversial, then I used Google and learned the difference between Kashi and Kalshi.
- cdrnsf
Sports gambling is a cancer, as are prediction markets. None of it should've been legalized and all of it should be banned.
- xyzelement
I hate prediction markets but simultaneously find this a little rich.
I think most people have experienced what Michael Chrichton called Gel Mann Amnesia - the idea that newspapers feel accurate except about topics you know about.
Whenever I read about topics I know about: such as my employer, a political topic I am particular familiar with, etc - the reporting is usually off in what MC called a "wet streets cause rain" kind of way.
I haven't seen any accountability for this kind of reporting. If a newspaper wrote that someone was born in 1980 but it was actually 1985 they may correct that but the broader theme of articles being inherently misleading to reality is rampant and I suspect significantly worse than when MC conceptualized this problem.
That's to say I am not sure there's a practical standard to which a random times writer is held that kalshi isn't to. If anything I think kalshi is more clearly presented as "a bet" vs "the truth" so I don't understand the meat of the grievance.
- _spduchamp
This future in illustration...
https://bsky.app/profile/beanytuesday.bsky.social/post/3mllq...