Viewers and journalists alike blasted CBS News for the firing of Katherine Herridge this week. Katherine Herridge is an award-winning senior correspondent, and sources say she encountered an “internal failure” at the station while reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop issue.
The veteran investigative reporter, who handles First Amendment cases closely watched by journalists across the country, was fired on Tuesday as part of a major purge of 800 employees across parent company Paramount Global. He was one of 20 CBS News staffers who lost their jobs, sources told the Post.
Inside the CBS News hall, staffers were furious and embarrassed by Herridge’s firing, according to sources close to the Tiffany network.
“People don’t understand this decision,” the person said, adding that officials at the network’s Washington bureau, where Herridge worked, were “shocked” that CBS would oust a journalist who “brought trust” to the company. , I’m disappointed.”
Herridge came to CBS in 2019 after serving as chief information correspondent for Fox News in search of a balanced voice to cover both sides.
But Herridge’s recent assignment — covering the Hunter Biden investigation — has put her under the radar of left-wing networks, the Post has learned.
It was well known on Capitol Hill that Ms. Herridge was one of the first to receive information about the Hunter Biden investigation, but the official said she ran into an “internal obstacle at CBS News.”
In 2021, CBS News hired Matt Mosk from ABC News to lead the station’s investigative unit to lead coverage of the Mueller investigation and Trump impeachment. Mosque also served as senior investigative producer on the 2021 Hulu documentary “Out of the Shadows: The Man Behind the Steele Dossier.”
The Steele dossier was debunked and accused former President Donald Trump’s campaign of colluding with Russians to tilt the outcome of the 2016 election.
Post learned.
According to insiders, Mr. Herridge will be working with CBS News President Ingrid Cyprian Matthews, who was investigated in 2021 for favoritism and discriminatory hiring and management practices, as previously reported by the Post. He is said to have clashed with Mr.
CBS News declined to comment.
Author and journalist Michael Shellenberger, an expert on censorship and free speech, said: In X, Herridge was called a “hero”.She said she recently “faced financial ruin and even prison for protecting her sources.”
“CBS executives acted cowardly,” Shellenberger wrote. “Shame on them.”
Meghan McCain, daughter of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, also weighed in. Calling Herridge a “national treasure””
“Words cannot express how outrageous it is for @CBSNews to let her go, especially in an election year,” McCain wrote.
Some also speculated that her departure was related to recent reports that President Biden may have kept evidence of foreign business transactions while in office.
Colin Rugg, co-owner of the conservative website Trending Politics, posted on X: “Mr. Herridge was fired hours after he reported that Mr. Biden may have had ‘confidential documents related to certain countries involved in his family’s overseas dealings’…wild.”
In 2022, CBS News co-president Neeraj Khemrani suggested the station was looking to include more Republican voices in the lead-up to that year’s midterm elections.
“We know that Republicans will probably be in power in the midterm elections, so making sure we have access to both sides of the aisle is a priority,” Khemrani told staff at the time, according to the recording. obtained by washington post. “A lot of the people we bring in are helping us in terms of accessing that side of the equation.”
The shift caused confusion among some rank-and-file leftists, but CBS News insiders say the authority came from high-ups, including Paramount Global Chairman Shari Redstone. he said.
Herridge’s resignation did not comply with U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper’s order to reveal how he learned of a federal investigation into a Chinese-American scientist who ran a graduate program in Virginia. This was carried out amid criticism from journalists.
Critics accused CBS of ousting Herridge, who is fighting for journalists’ rights, with one CBS News official calling the network’s decision “tone-deaf.”
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.
Fox News is paying Herridge’s legal fees, the people said.
Jonathan Turley, dean of the Shapiro School of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, said Herridge “bred balance to reporting, but now faces the possibility of imprisonment for refusing to disclose his sources.” . Posted in X. “CBS should stand by her and the journalistic values she is fighting to protect.”
According to Herridge’s report, scientist Chen Yanping had been under investigation for years for allegedly lying on immigration documents related to China’s astronaut program.
Chen later sued the government, claiming details of the investigation were leaked to defame him.
