Posted on 02/23/2024 4:52:40 AM PST by Red Badger
As we reported, Catherine Herridge was fired from CBS during a bloodbath of them cutting hundreds of employees.
Her firing got the most attention because of her excellence in reporting and the suggestion that it was more than just a layoff when it came to her being let go, just after she'd been reporting on the Hur Report. That suspicion grew louder when it was learned that CBS had also seized Herridge's files, computers, and records, which included her "privileged sources."
According to George Washington law professor Jonathan Turley:
"The timing of Herridge’s termination immediately raised suspicions in Washington. She was pursuing stories that were unwelcomed by the Biden White House and many Democratic powerhouses, including the Hur reporton Joe Biden’s diminished mental capacity, the Biden corruption scandal and the Hunter Biden laptop. She continued to pursue these stories despite reports of pushback from CBS executives, including CBS News President Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews."
This concerned many that this could "chill" reporting and sources providing information to reporters. Some like Turley and journalist Brit Hume said they had never heard of anything like this before.
Catherine Herridge has now posted an important update from SAG-Aftra, which covers broadcast journalists as well as actors. They posted a statement ripping CBS' actions and coming to her defense, demanding that CBS return her files and records to her. They indicated there was progress because of outreach from CBS and they hoped to resolve the question soon.
SAG-AFTRA strongly condemns CBS News' decision to seize Catherine Herridge's reporter notes and research from her office, including confidential source information. This action is deeply concerning to the union because it sets a dangerous precedent for all media professionals and threatens the very foundation of the First Amendment.
It is completely inappropriate for an employer to lay off a reporter and take the very unusual step of retaining and searching the reporter's files, inclusive of confidential source identification and information. From a First Amendment standpoint, a media corporation with a commitment to journalism calling a reporter’s research and confidential source reporting "proprietary information" is both shocking and absurd.
The retention of a media professional's reporting materials by their former employer is a serious break with traditional practices which supports the immediate return of reporting materials. We urge CBS to return this material to Catherine in support of the most basic of First Amendment principles. We are encouraged by recent outreach by CBS News to SAG-AFTRA on this matter, and we are hopeful that it will be resolved shortly.
Hopefully, she gets her files back, and good for SAG-Aftra for standing up for her.
Unfortunately, the horse may be outside the barn already. If the point was to root through the files to find out information, they have already had that opportunity. And would Herridge get all of it back or would some stuff be missing? Even if she gets it back, every journalist out there has to be concerned now about such actions.
People blasted CBS' actions and offered Herridge their support, praising her work.
I only read the first part of your article on shield laws, but it looks like they are meant to protect journalists from the courts over-zealously exposing their sources.
The reason I bring that up is because in most other industries, what you produce in the line of work actually belongs to your employer. If you code software for a company and leave that company, you can’t take that software with you. You can’t take your computer or it’s files, and you can’t take your project notes.
I definitely understand the desire to protect sources. It is basically the number one priority of any journalist, and even investigators in law and law enforcement, because you will never have any credibility and you wont develop new sources of information if people know you hang them out to dry.
However, I wonder if it isn’t more of a gray area when you are talking about all of their actual work.
If I were a lawyer, I would argue that you try to insert a false and totally incorrect premise. CBS requires no warrant to claim that which is their property.
The Herrige records at issue were maintained on CBS owned computers. Thus, Katherine did not own and had no rights to the contents of the storage media.
Paper records and notebooks might be different, but if developed during CBS employment, the records and notebooks belong to CBS.
Further, I will argue that if She did not manage storage on devices out of CBS reach, she made a grave personal error. She should have saved them to her own cloud repository
You’re missing the point.
CBS is acting as an agent for Deep State.
CBS did this so Deep State wouldn’t have to risk getting caught or being seen doing it.
Wasn’t that nice of CBS...
And Paramount Global.
Not the identities of her sources.
People now know you will never be able to trust a CBS reporter EVER. There will be no more anonymous sources. If CBS pretends to have inside information you know it’s made up.
Congratulations CBS on your DEI hire for CEO, was it worth it?
And is SAG-Aftra really going to get in Paramount Global’s grill...
Hint: Don’t hold your breath while you wait.
And a note to the Harkles: Nice company you keep.
Deep State thinks so.
And that’s all that really matters, isn’t it...
Doesn’t matter. The source ID’s are now lost in the shuffle. She apparently failed to keep them secret.
The apparent failure is own her.
The ‘Tiffany Network’ is now no better than Weekly World News................................
I hope Newsmax, Tucker Carlson, Brietbart, or someone hires her today. Not that sources are any better, but she has had her shot at Fox.
Deep State doesn’t need thousands of presstitutes peddling the same propaganda on the payroll when far fewer will suffice.
CBS has become excess to Deep State’s requirements.
Perhaps but........ the corporate requirement for preservation of assets is in my mind stronger than the Deep State boogieman.
The Herrige materials are money.
Besides and more importantly, CBS is a propagandist arm of the Democrat Party.
They chose unwisely.
We are living in the USSR right now, I don’t see how in the hell we EVER get our country back we have gone far past the point of no return AND we no longer have an opposition party!!!
Theses days the corporate requirement for preservation is being in bed with Deep State.
That’s their biz model.
Unless we restore the republic.
The FBI seized her files. It is rumored that they are working to get a warrant to raid her home.
She knew CBS was a snake before she started there.
I find that interesting.
I wonder if AI has anything to do with that?
By using AI extensively, they can get rid of a lot of ‘dead wood’ and produce the same garbage with way fewer people on the projects.
AI is quickly permeating our entire civilization.
This is just like a movie script....................
We are living in the USSR, the only difference being that this government has technology the old KGB could only dream of.................
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