Did the New York Times pay millions to get reporter David Rohde released from Taliban custody last June? That is bold assertion that former special forces veteran turned freelance journalist Michael Yon is saying via his twitter.

From Part Four of NYT‘s reporter David Rodhe’s series about his nine-month captivity at the hands of the Taliban. Alas, the Times doesn’t allow embedding of its videos, but you view the whole thing interactive part here.

Almost a year ago, while reporting on the Taliban in Afghanistan for the New York Times, journalist David Rohde was taken captive. Rohde returned home in June, and now he’s telling the action-packed and emotional story of his kidnapping and captivity in Afghanistan and Pakistan on the front page of the Times — a story that was kept totally silent before.

This morning, New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell was freed from his captors in northern Afghanistan by a military raid that took the life of his interpreter. As in the case of David Rohde, the Times asked news outlets not to report on Farrell’s capture, although fortunately his was a shorter ordeal than Rohde’s. Some may argue that this violates journalistic ethics; here’s why they’re wrong.

The New York Times may be in dire, and well-documented, financial straits but it is still the reigning King of Media. Look no further than the latest development over how the Times managed to keep the kidnapping of Times reporter David Rohde‘s off Wikipedia.

Yesterday’s Sunday New York Times featured two stories without bylines. One piece recounted Times reporter David Rohde‘s Saturday escape from Taliban captors following a seven month ordeal (and accompanying news blackout). The other piece was datelined Tehran.