So the war thunder forums just need to register themselves as a journalist and it solves all their problems. Also would this apply to detailed plans for construction of a suitcase nuke?
Could NYT hold onto the plans for said nuke threatening to publish them if their demands are not met adding a new meta layer to MAD?
1st, if the poster is/was a government employee, they're probably fucked. If you were expected to keep something confidential, then you keep it confidential, full stop.
2nd, the physics of making a nuke are well known, it's the investment cost that kills, so I'll change the question a bit. Lets say, somehow, NYT gets ahold of and publishes the makeup of the specific anti-radar paint used on stealth fighters, something that is very clearly a massive operational issue if it's specifically found out since now countermeasures can be tailored made. Can NYT be sued?
No. They have 0%, nada, none, no obligation to the government, secrecy, or anything else. You can publish how the CIA specifically makes gas bombs for insurgents. You can publish submarine patrol routes. You can publish everything ever done, is being done, or will ever be done, good or bad, with 0 legal repercussions. (Not to say the government won't try, but the legality of it would be fucked, as seen in the Pentagon Papers).
Welcome to the world of American liberties. Where we enshrine Natural Rights above the authority and security of the government, the 1st Amendment being the most litigated and, thus, the most secure.