Posted on 02/23/2024 6:18:08 AM PST by MtnClimber
Meanwhile, Biden gives an interview boasting about his commitment to the First Amendment.
Paramount is on the chopping block and as part of that, CBS News began a purge of journalists. One of its top targets was former FOX News reporter Catherine Herridge: a serious reporter respected even by liberals.
What happened next was more shocking though when CBS News seized her files including confidential source information.
The source said the network boxed up all her personal belongings except for Herridge’s notes and files and informed her that it would decide what — if anything — would be returned to her.
“They never seize documents [when you’re let go],” a second source close to the network said.
“They want to see what damaging documents she has.”
Sources feared the network’s actions could have an impact on Herridge’s First Amendment case because her documents may contain privileged conversations she had with her lawyers or the identities of sources.
There are two angles here. Beyond the Hunter Biden story, Herridge had also been sued by a Chinese scientist over an FBI investigation and was under a judicial order to reveal her sources, but that was back at FOX News. CBS News was not a party to that case and there would be no reason for it to get involved in the lawsuit.
Hunter Biden’s people however have been aggressive lately and giving them access to whatever Herridge had would provide the legal team with a leg up.
CBS News had recently been taken over by Ciprian-Matthews, the former D.C. bureau chief for CBS News, who apart from being accused of wokeness and promoting minorities at the expense of more qualified personnel, would have the potential contacts.
The situation is serious enough that the SAG-AFTRA union issued a statement warning that, “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.”
CBS News claims that it’s closing off access to the materials and wants to return them, but then why did it seize them at all? In the time that it had access to them, it could have searched through, copied what was needed and is now offering to return violated materials. We don’t know that this is what happened, but it raises questions.
Unless CBS News feared litigation, it had no reason to seize the materials. The likely alterative is that it sought to access content there on behalf of a third party.
All of this is happening while Biden gives an interview boasting about his commitment to 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.”
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