"News is speculation and somebody said something these days."
That's why respected news sites like the NYT and WaPo usually require 3 independent, reliable sources before printing a story. Without that, yeah, news reportage is unreliable and always has been.
"Where did NYT get that threat of firings bit? "
I don't subscribe to the NYT and can't read the article. I presume they were anonymous sources who were "in a position to know". The Commerce Department simply denied it. It's being investigated by the NOAA Inspector General and the House Energy and Commerce Committee of the House of Rep.
“I am extremely disturbed by the directive that NOAA leadership sent on September 6, which threatens the integrity and public trust of weather forecasts at the peak of Hurricane season,” said Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “The Committee will pursue this issue and we expect full cooperation from the Department of Commerce in our efforts."
Reported firing threats, along with an unsigned statement on Hurricane Dorian backing President Trump, are now “matters under review by NOAA's inspector general.
abcnews.go.com
Here's a summary of the incident from a reasonably unbiased magazine:
Believe it or not, the news cycle sparked by President Trump's Hurricane Dorian tweet from more than a week ago isn't nearly over yet. The New York Times reported on Monday that after the National Weather Service's Birmingham office contradicted the president in clarifying that Alabama was not...
theweek.com