SAG-AFTRA is accusing CBS News of violating the First Amendment rights of a laid-off investigative journalist. Earlier this month, CBS News’ parent company, Paramount, handed pink slips to 800 employees. Catherine Herridge, a senior investigative correspondent, was one of those employees.
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Herridge had been covering stories for CBS News related to investigations involving President Joe Biden and his family. Most recently, she covered the House impeachment inquiry into President Biden and his son Hunter Biden’s laptop and criminal charges.
However, SAG-AFTRA is accusing the news organization of seizing Herridge’s reporter notes and research from her office, including confidential information.
“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,” SAG-AFTRA said in a statement. “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.”
Herridge has not publicly commented on the situation. However, she did repost SAG-AFTRA’s statement on X.
Jonathan Turley, a former legal analyst for CBS News, first broke the story in an opinion piece for The Hill.
“The timing of Herridge’s termination immediately raised suspicions in Washington,” Turley wrote. “She was pursuing stories that were unwelcomed by the Biden White House and many Democratic powerhouses.”
The New York Post also reported that “Herridge had encountered roadblocks from higher-ups over her Hunter Biden coverage and had also clashed with CBS News President Ingrid-Ciprian Matthews.”
It is unusual for a news company to seize a former journalist’s files. SAG-AFTRA said the action is “a serious break with traditional practices which supports the immediate return of reporting materials.”
CBS News denies the allegations.
“Catherine’s personal belongings were delivered to her home one week ago, and we are prepared to pack up the rest of her files immediately on her behalf – with her representative present as she requested,” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement. “We are awaiting a response from Catherine and/or her representative to do so. We have respected her request to not go through the files, and out of our concern for confidential sources, the office she occupied has remained secure since her departure.”
SAG-AFTRA said it is hopeful the situation will be resolved shortly.
