Danielle Rhoades Ha is an American communications executive who handled public relations at New York Times during their 2020s anti-transgender coverage crisis. Rhoades Ha is responsible for “advancing and protecting our public reputation” at the Times.
No transgender journalist has appeared on the New York Times masthead since its founding in 1851. Due to the hostile work environment, no transgender reporters worked there as of 2023 according to a San Francisco Chronicle report.
Background
Danielle Rhoades Ha was born on March 27, 1977 to Michael and Lillian Rhoades.
Rhoades Ha earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Texas at Austin in 1999, then joined PR firm Goodman Media International. From 2000 to 2007 Rhoades Ha handled media relations for Dow Jones & Company before joining the Times in 2010. Rhoades Ha was named SVP, Communications in 2022. Rhoades Ha reports to David Rubin.
Rhoades Ha is married to Vimy Xuan Rhoades Ha (born 1975), a consultant and poker player.
2023 correspondence
On September 3, 2023, this site received an email from Times employee Megan Twohey copied to Rhoades Ha. Twohey requested biographical information be removed. This site’s response can be viewed on Twohey’s profile.
Responses to criticism of the Times
Rhoades Ha has appeared in the media to defend the Times and its anti-trans coverage.
In 2025, Assigned Media founder Evan Urquhart published an insider’s analysis of what happened at the Times, centered around the experiences of former Times editor Billie Jean Sweeney:
What, exactly, went wrong at the New York Times? It’s a question that’s been asked, analyzed, reported about, and advocated on, and disputed by spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander, who emailed a detailed response to Assigned Media’s reporting.
[…] Addressing diversity and hiring generally, Danielle Rhoades Ha, the Senior Vice President of External Communications for NYT, wrote via email that, “Our newsroom has hired people over the last several years who have voluntarily identified their gender identity, including nonbinary. We don’t ask our candidates or staff if they identify as transgender.” Rhoades Ha also sent a link to the company’s most recent diversity and inclusion report. The report shows fewer than 1 percent of NYT employees identify as nonbinary and does not include the word transgender.
After civil rights attorney Alejandra Caraballo published a 2026 analysis of trends in the Times’ anti-trans coverage. Rhoades Ha responded in an article in The Advocate:
In a statement to The Advocate, Danielle Rhoades Ha, the Times’ senior vice president of communications, said the paper’s role is “to report accurate, fact-based information on all aspects of a story to help the public understand vital issues better.”
In a statement to The Advocate, Rhoades Ha said the paper has “reported deeply for years on the prejudice and attacks that transgender people face” while also helping readers understand “the questions and debates over trans rights and medical care.”
“We reject any suggestion that our coverage is biased or anti-trans; we report on gender identity and related issues fully and fairly and approach our coverage with curiosity and sensitivity, as we do with every story,” Rhoades Ha said.
References
Wiggins, Christopher (June 23, 2026). The New York Times helped turn trans rights into political controversy, analysis finds. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/new-york-times-transgender-controversy
Urquhart, Evan (January 8, 2025). Bias at NYT: Trans Former Employee Speaks Out. Assigned Media https://assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/former-editor-nyt-biased-on-trans-hiring/
Caraballo, Alejandra (June 19, 2026). Exclusive: How The New York Times Changed Its Coverage of Trans People. The Dissident https://www.thedissident.news/exclusive-how-the-new-york-times-changed-its-coverage-of-trans-people/
Rubin, David (June 8, 2022). Danielle Rhoades Ha Promoted to Head of External Communications. New York Times Company https://www.nytco.com/press/danielle-rhoades-ha-promoted-to-head-of-external-communications/
Resources
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IMDb (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8044415/)
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