CBS News bosses approve firing controversial Katherine Herridge, a prominent Washington correspondent embroiled in a high-profile First Amendment case, still was awarded the Freedom Award.
CBS News President Ingrid Cyprian-Matthews named the 13 recipients of the 33rd Annual First Amendment Awards held March 9 at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. Selected by News Association.
The irony was echoed by CBS News insiders, who cited the fact that the same executive helped oust Mr. Herridge. Mr. Herridge is an award-winning investigative reporter who is under pressure from a federal district court judge for failing to disclose how he learned of the federal case. Investigating Chinese American Scientists.
Herridge will soon be held in contempt of court for not disclosing the sources of an investigative article he wrote in 2017 while working for Fox News, and will be required to pay personal fines totaling up to $5,000 per day. May be ordered.
“RTDNA would have to be tone-deaf to give Ingrid Cyprian-Matthews and CBS News a First Amendment award,” said the longtime journalist. “That undermines the very meaning of this award.”
The newspaper asked whether the RTDNA Foundation was reconsidering Cyprian-Matthews’ honor.
In its response, the foundation declined to comment specifically on the Herridge controversy.
“The Foundation selected Cyprian-Matthews for her commitment to good and ethical journalism, especially at a time when the stakes are so high,” said Chairman Dan Shelley. “Her leadership on one of the most difficult news stories in American history is a testament to the power of journalism.”
CBS parent company Paramount announced last week that it would lay off about 800 people at the debt-ridden company, including about 20 people at CBS News.
CBS officials said the decision to fire Herridge was made by upper management in the Washington, D.C. bureau, where the reporter was based.
Cyprian Matthews and other company executives approved the decision, the person said.
A representative for CBS News said, “This reorganization in no way reflects or diminishes Ingrid’s well-deserved and outstanding record as a journalist,” calling the news president “the best in journalism.” “He is a highly regarded executive with decades of experience championing the values of the United States.” ”
“MS.” There were also dozens of people at other news organizations enduring mass layoffs,” the rep continued.
Nevertheless, critics accused the network and Cyprian-Matthews of allowing Mr. Herridge to become embroiled in a mass killing.
“She pursued stories that the Biden White House and many leading Democrats did not welcome, including Herr’s reporting on Joe Biden’s declining mental capacity, the Biden corruption scandal, and Hunter Biden’s laptop.” said Jonathan Turley, a legal scholar and former CBS executive.A legal analyst recently wrote: The Hill Opinion Article.
The revelations come as the House of Commons Judiciary Committee launches an investigation into Herridge’s firing and the handling of her file after her release.
CBS News kept Ms. Herridge’s personal file, which included confidential information about her case and articles she had worked on.
Facing mounting pressure from the House Judiciary Committee and SAG-AFTRA, the union representing journalists, CBS News returned the files on Monday.
As the Post previously reported, Herridge encountered an “internal glitch” at the network when covering the Hunter Biden laptop story.
As The Post revealed in January, she also clashed with Cyprian Matthews, a sharp-elbowed executive who was investigated in 2021 for favoritism and discriminatory hiring and management practices. .
In fact, sources speculated that Herridge’s firing may have been retaliation, as correspondent Herridge triggered the 2021 investigation into Cyprian-Matthews.
It all started when correspondent Geoff Peggs went on a 20-minute rant in which he allegedly disparaged a senior correspondent — whose identity was recently revealed by Pac News to be Herridge.
Sources told the Post at the time that Cyprian-Matthews, who was present at the meeting, did not initially report the incident and when it was finally brought to the attention of human resources, she accused Peggs of defaming her. He said he tried to put the blame on Mr. Herridge.
The incident opened a Pandora’s box, with allegations that Cyprian-Matthews shielded Ms. Peggs and other diverse correspondents to the detriment of predominantly white female correspondents. That’s because company president Jennifer Gordon’s desk was flooded. investigation.
Although an investigation found that Pegus’ conduct was unprofessional, several months later Cyprian-Matthews endorsed Pegus’ promotion to chief national and justice correspondent.
Sources claimed Mr Gordon had failed to interview key witnesses in the investigation into Mr Cyprian-Matthews, but only concluded that Mr Gordon was a “bad manager” with limited resources, sources said at the time. A close source told the Post.
As first reported by the Post, Mr. Peggs was fired along with Mr. Herridge as part of a purge of 20 CBS News staffers.
The newspaper has learned that Mr. Gordon was also let go amid layoffs that also saw parent company Paramount Global cut nearly 800 jobs.
“Between Peggs, Herridge and Gordon, Ingrid is the only remaining witness,” a CBS source said.
A Paramount Global representative said, “In accordance with our policy, we do not comment on personnel matters.”
