Suddenly layoffs at CBS News and parent company Paramount Global claimed 800 jobs on Tuesday, including one award-winning journalist in the middle of a high-stakes First Amendment fight that could bankrupt her… or end with her in prison.
Catherine Herridge, a CBS News senior reporter who is in the midst of a First Amendment case being watched by news organizations nationwide, was among those suddenly fired.
The bloodbath triggered outrage from many inside CBS and Paramount and sparked criticism of Paramount CEO Bob Bakish from insiders.
“Everybody in the newsroom is pissed that Bob Bakish is making over $30 million and he’s making these cuts,” one insider reportedly told The New York Post.
Rumors have also swirled that the firings were more nefarious than simply cost-cutting moves.
Herridge had reportedly butted heads with CBS News chief Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews before she was released. Her Washington bureau was reportedly hit the hardest by the layoffs.
Ciprian-Matthews “got rid of her enemies under the guise of budget cuts,” one source told The Post. “She cleared the deck.”
Also released from CBS News were Christinia Ruffini, a high profile political correspondent, Jeff Pegues, the chief national affairs and justice correspondent, and Pamela Falk, CBS News correspondent for the United Nations.
But it was Herridge’s firing that caught the most attention.
She is at risk of being held in contempt of court for refusing to identify her source for an investigative journalism piece she wrote for Fox News in 2017.
The court may order her to pay as much as $5,000 per day until she divulges the name of her source — and she even faces jail time.
Herridge had also faced recent criticisms from other mainstream media outlets for her attitude towards President Joe Biden’s administration.
Take a look —
JUST IN: CBS News reporter Catherine Herridge fired in company wide layoffs conducted by Paramount Global.
Herridge was one of 800 people who got axed on Tuesday in Paramount Global's massive cost-cutting operation.
Herridge was fired just hours after she reported on how… pic.twitter.com/vyVKfErSY2
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 13, 2024