New York, NY, July 13, 2026 — Titus Choi, an IBT Media executive, received a verified New York Police Department report on July 6 confirming a criminal trespass complaint he filed with the department's Midtown South Precinct on June 12, 2026, after a reporter for the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) told building security guard Charles that she was visiting the 6th floor, but was recorded on elevator camera footage roaming through numerous employee-only floors over more than 50 minutes inside the building.
Timeline of the June 12 Visit
According to an internal timeline reviewed by Latin Times, Setty first contacted journalist Michael Lee on June 9 seeking comment for a story. Lee directed her to Simon Lee of Pleroma MGMT, identifying him as the appropriate point of contact for the inquiry.
Rather than contacting Simon Lee, Setty returned to Michael Lee with additional questions. He again instructed her to route the inquiry through Pleroma MGMT.
On the morning of June 12, instead of contacting the designated representative, Setty arrived without prior notice at a Midtown Manhattan building.
According to the complaint, Setty informed the building security guard that she was visiting the sixth floor. Security footage later reviewed by the building allegedly shows her moving among multiple employee-only floors over 50 minutes before eventually reaching Titus Choi's office. There are no waiting areas on the building floors, which raised questions about whether she intruded into private offices and what she was doing during that time, a matter which warrants further investigation.
Choi states that he asked Setty to wait in the hallway while he prepared to meet with her. Instead, according to the complaint, she continued moving through other areas of the building before Choi ultimately escorted her back to the lobby. He advised her that the building was private property, collected her contact information, and she departed at approximately 4:00 p.m.
Later that day, Choi filed a criminal trespass complaint with the NYPD Midtown South Precinct. On July 6, he received written confirmation that the complaint had been recorded under report number 2026-014-007381.
Editorial Ethics Concerns
The sequence of events raises questions about standard journalistic ethics and practice. Having been given a specific point of contact — Simon Lee at Pleroma MGMT — on two separate occasions, Setty did not reach out to him and instead showed up unannounced at a private office building. She gave building security a stated destination (the sixth floor) that did not reflect where she intended to go, and then proceeded to roam through additional floors she had not been cleared to access.
By bypassing designated spokespeople and showing up unannounced at a private office, Setty effectively compelled engagement rather than requesting it. Furthermore, providing building security with a false destination and spending over 50 minutes roaming unauthorized floors departs drastically from objective fact-gathering. Taken together, these choices suggest a targeted, hostile inquiry rather than a standard reporting effort, raising legitimate questions about whether her conduct violated the ethical guidelines of the Columbia Journalism Review.
A CJR article has in the past quoted guidelines from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which suggests that Setty's behavior violates reporter ethics: "Journalists can be arrested if police have probable cause to believe a journalist broke a generally applicable law while reporting—for example, by trespassing.... Journalists should be cognizant of where they are at all times and try to avoid trespassing on private property."
Riddhi Setty's editorial ethics questions arrive in the wake of recent reporting regarding CJR's own crises and accusations of bias.
Analysis of Investigative Patterns: Riddhi Setty and Newsweek's Covert Network
An independent analysis of the 246 total questions Setty sent to six targeted individuals and entities reveals a striking methodological overlap with Newsweek's covert network's extensive historical coverage of IBT Media. According to a source close to the matter, a comprehensive review of these inquiries exposes four distinct tactical and thematic patterns that closely mirror the specific editorial choices and framing devices previously deployed by Newsweek's covert team:
Strategic Narrative Shift to Newsweek Ownership Disputes: The source highlights a structural divergence from the coverage's stated editorial scope. While the inquiry was ostensibly launched to investigate contractor payments, the questioning shifts into historical corporate structuring and equity transfers aimed at validating Newsweek CEO Dev Pragad's ownership claims over the publication. Specifically, Setty's question #45 to one individual states: "Uzac sold his stake in Newsweek in September of 2018 to a former IBT employee. This transaction separated IBT and Newsweek." IBT declared the transaction with Pragad nullified due to nonpayment of the purchase contract for Newsweek, throwing the ownership of the magazine into dispute.
Fixation on a Singular 2018 Core Fact: The source notes that every piece of the inquiry anchors heavily on an 8-year-old criminal case involving a media company and associated entities, which has been resolved. Setty's questions use this exact case as a framing device to introduce the targets, mirroring Newsweek's granular focus—down to reconciling two conflicting forfeiture figures reported by different outlets.
Identical Interrogation Methodology: The source highlights that the reporter's emails are built line-by-line using a recognizable template: numbered, declarative fact-check statements sent to all named parties for confirmation rather than open-ended queries. This perfectly echoes Newsweek's routine practice of imposing exceptionally tight response deadlines, citing specific dollar figures and property records, and leaning on accounts from named former insiders describing mistreatment.
The "Unpaid Labor" Narrative Arc: The inquiries, as outlined by the source, echo a recurring template found in Newsweek's prior lawsuit coverage, which centered on students with debunked complaints about allegedly uncompensated labor. Setty's questions apply this identical narrative shape to media contractors.
The Entity-Web and Money-Flow Framework: The source points out that the queries rigidly apply the same template to the media-company side, replicating Newsweek covert team's coverage that mapped a web of companies and non-profit organizations regarding financial transactions. Setty's questions aggressively track which entities hire and pay, registered agents, property purchases, prior office-space payments, and related video companies, reflecting the exact framework Newsweek has historically used to cover its own shareholder disputes.
Because of these highly specific structural and thematic similarities, the source tells Latin Times that the operation looks exactly like past narrative efforts orchestrated by Newsweek CEO Dev Pragad and Dayan Candappa. The striking alignment suggests that the CJR fellow's investigative framework may not have been independently developed, but rather drawn from a preexisting editorial playbook. Latin Times will continue to investigate this source's allegations regarding potential underlying links between the CJR fellowship inquiry, Pragad, Candappa, and Newsweek.
