I don’t like conspiracy theories.
In fact, when I’m bombarded with claims that the evil forces of Wall Street are conspiring to ruin small investors, I always shoot them dead.
Such “rip-offs” are easy to explain with logic and a reasonable understanding of how markets work.
This theory, which is circulating, is worth noting because, if true, the implications are quite frightening.
This involves the strange circumstances surrounding the recent firing of CBS News journalist Katherine Herridge.
Herridge is a longtime investigative reporter who has always been a thorn in the side of the Biden administration.
Here’s why some people are connecting the dots in the proverbial conspiracy. By sidelining Herridge, the Wall Street-hating Biden merger cops might just approve Paramount’s sale to a major media company.
Again, I hate conspiracy theories. And I don’t know if there is any benefit to this. Mr. Herridge was one of 800 people (including 20 journalists) recently laid off by the struggling media conglomerate, owner of CBS, MTV, Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central and others. .
Media executives have described many of Paramount’s shows as “melting ice,” industry slang for shows that are rapidly losing audience share due to irrelevance and cord-cutting. .
The company is under intense pressure to downsize.
That’s why Paramount is looking for a savior.
The stock price has fallen 77% over the past five years.
Pressure to cut jobs is increasing as the advertising market is depressed and costs need to be squeezed in preparation for planned sales.
But given the quality of some of Paramount’s assets (it controls major studios and CBS), the deal should be a layup.
Moreover, its market capitalization is only $7.6 billion.
Easily ingested by large media and technology companies looking for content.
So what supports it?
My business contacts tell me that potential large suitors (Comcast, Discovery, Apple, Amazon, etc.) are either hesitant or staying away because they don’t believe the Biden administration will approve any mergers. It is said that there is.
Smaller players will also come under increased scrutiny, as the Biden FCC, Justice Department, and FTC simply don’t like media ownership changing hands.
Let’s set aside for a moment the stupidity of Biden’s deal-averse policy and return to the interesting case of Katherine Herridge.
(Full disclosure: Herridge and I crossed paths several years ago when she worked at my employer, FOX News. She left in 2019 to take the post of senior investigative correspondent at CBS. (I don’t know her very well, but I’m an admirer of her work.) )
After leaving Fox in 2019, Herridge picked up where he left off, telling stories without fear or favor.
Most recently, she has been reporting critically on the Biden administration, the president’s mental weakness shown in the special counsel’s report, and Hunter Biden’s imbroglio.
It’s not the kind of content that would appeal to President Biden reporters in an election year.
I’m well aware that journalism has always been a rough business. The Internet first commercialized print media, and now the same thing is happening with broadcasting.
We are running out of money to pay for human resources.
Meanwhile, Ms. Herridge continues to refuse court orders to hand over sources for her reporting on Chinese-American scientists under federal investigation.
she is good at her job
That said, Herridge’s fenestration was suspiciously strange.
She was very good at what she did and was also one of the few reporters in mainstream media who didn’t get up and do math every time she wrote an article. That means she provided something that CBS really didn’t have and was lacking across the board in the mainstream media: fair and balanced coverage.
Now consider how she was exiled.
Most people who are asked to leave work do so with the opportunity to clean their desks and take home their work.
Apparently it’s not Herridge.
According to a column in The Hill by George Washington University professor Jonathan Turley, “the network informed Ms. Herridge that it would obtain her notes and files and decide what to turn over to her.” . This file may contain confidential material from Fox and her time at CBS. ”
And as Sleepy Joe seeks a second term, there’s some information the Biden administration doesn’t want made public.
Yes, it all seems a bit far-fetched, but there is precedent.
In 1995, CBS first withdrew a “60 Minutes” interview featuring tobacco company whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand, leaving his former company, Brown & Williamson, a company that made the addictive substance nicotine more effective. The company was severely criticized for allegedly mixing chemicals into cigarettes. In the gun stick.
It turns out that this decision was not made on the basis of journalism.
The suitors decided to end the interview while negotiating shareholder and other approvals for the company’s $5.4 billion sale to Westinghouse.
They feared a lawsuit from the tobacco giant could upend the deal.
At the time, it was home to the great Edward R. Murrow and considered the low point of a network known for its journalistic chops.
The New York Times argued in an editorial: “Some of the executives who helped kill the 60 Minutes interview, including the general counsel, stand to earn millions of dollars in stock options and other payments if the deal goes through.” ”
CBS denied that money was an issue, and “60 Minutes” eventually aired Wigand’s interview. Later, a Vanity Fair article about Wigand was published and a hit movie starring Russell Crowe was also aired.
Of course, we are not yet at the level of film production.
Following news of the file incident, CBS said it was “ready to immediately pack up the remaining files on her behalf.” The office she was in remains safe even after she leaves.” But notice.
Representatives for Herridge, Paramount and the White House declined to comment.
