Paramount Global laid off CBS News senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge, who previously worked at Fox News, along with hundreds of other staffers Tuesday.
The mass layoffs resulted in about 800 jobs being slashed, according to the New York Post. Sources said Herridge, the award-winning journalist involved in a First Amendment legal fight, reportedly clashed with CBS News president Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews.
Herridge left Fox News in 2019 after 23 years to work as an investigative correspondent at CBS News, saying the offer was too good to pass up. She had previously received a prestigious award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
BREAKING: Paramount Layoffs include hundreds of CBS Employees including their best one—“Catherine Herridge, an award-winning senior correspondent whose 1st Amendment case is being closely watched by journalists nationwide.” pic.twitter.com/N93bZeLs74
— Te𝕏asLindsay™ (@TexasLindsay_) February 13, 2024
Herridge may soon be held in contempt of court and be ordered to pay as much as $5,000 a day if she does not reveal her source for the investigative stories she wrote in 2017, according to The Washington Post. U.S. District Court Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled Aug. 1 that she must reveal the sources who informed her while she worked at Fox News about a federal probe into Chinese American scientist Yanping Chen, who operated a graduate program in Virginia. (RELATED: CBS Reporter Calls Out Dem Rep Over Archer Testimony)
Chen sued the federal government and alleged that it leaked private information to Herridge, which violated Chen’s privacy, according to The Washington Post. Chen argued Herridge was the only individual who could reveal the source who leaked Chen’s alleged private information.
The judge ruled that Chen’s need for evidence overrides Herridge’s “qualified First Amendment privilege,” according to The Washington Post.
Another staffer, CBS News correspondent Jeff Pegues, got the boot following several human resources (HR) complaints over his workplace behavior, according to the New York Post. Pegues allegedly reprimanded a female colleague in a “20-minute rant” in 2021 and had a history of “lashing out” and “bullying” young women who “outworked” him, a former CBS manager told the New York Post.
Ciprian-Matthews allegedly attempted to blame the woman for the incident and promoted Pegues, sources told the New York Post.
CBS political correspondent Christina Ruffini has also been laid off, according to the New York Post.
CNN faced massive layoffs in late 2022 as the network faced historically low ratings, reaching its lowest rated year among the key 25-54 age demographic in three decades. Buzzfeed and NPR announced its rounds of layoffs in early 2023, with Buzzfeed slashing 12% of its workforce, and NPR cutting at least 100 jobs.