Free speech irony
CBS exec 1st Amendment honor after Herridge ax
The CBS News boss who signed off on the controversial ouster of Catherine Herridge — a respected Washington correspondent who has been embroiled in a high-profile First Amendment case — is nevertheless being honored with a free-speech award next month.
CBS News president Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews was selected by the Radio Television Digital News Association to be among 13 honorees at the 33rd annual First Amendment Awards at The Watergate Hotel in Washington on March 9.
The irony was not lost on CBS News insiders who cited the fact that the exec played a role in pushing out Herridge — an award-winning investigative reporter who is under pressure from a US District Court judge for not revealing how she learned about a federal probe into a ChineseAmerican scientist.
Herridge may soon be held in contempt of court for not divulging her source for an investigative piece she penned in 2017 when she worked for Fox News and be ordered to personally pay fines that could total as much as $5,000 a day.
“The RTDNA must be tone deaf to give Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews and CBS News an award for the First Amendment,” said a longtime journalist. “It tarnishes the whole meaning of the award.”
The Post reached out to inquire whether the RTDNA Foundation was rethinking honoring Ciprian-Matthews. The foundation declined to comment specifically on the Herridge controversy.
“The Foundation selected Ciprián-Matthews for her commitment to excellent and ethical journalism, especially at a time when the stakes are so high,” said president Dan Shelley in a statement.
Last week, CBS parent Paramount announced it will lay off around 800 people at the debt-saddled company, including roughly 20 from CBS News.
A CBS source said the decision to oust Herridge was made by higher-ups in the DC, bureau, where the reporter was based. Ciprian-Matthews and other company execs approved of the decision, the person said.
“This restructuring does not in any way reflect on or diminish Ingrid’s welldeserved and outstanding journalistic record,” said a rep for CBS News.
Really?