Below is my column in The Hill on the trouble brewing at CBS over the seizure of the files of acclaimed investigative reporter Catherine Herridge. The column broke the story on the uproar over not just her being laid off but her being locked out from her files. I am now hearing from CBS sources that the network is moving toward a resolution to turn over the files after the outcry. However, the concerns over Herridge’s firing and the network’s handling of her confidential notes continues to draw fire from journalists and commentators. The union issued a statement (below) after the column that “CBS News’ decision to seize Catherine Herridge’s reporter notes and research … sets a dangerous precedent for all media professionals and threatens the very foundation of the First Amendment.”
Here is the column:
“Anyone who isn’t confused really doesn’t understand the situation.” Those words, from CBS icon Edward R. Murrow, came to mind this week after I spoke with journalists at the network.
There is trouble brewing at Black Rock, the headquarters of CBS, after the firing of Catherine Herridge, an acclaimed investigative reporter. Many of us were shocked after Herridge was included in layoffs this month, but those concerns have increased after CBS officials took the unusual step of seizing her files, computers and records, including information on privileged sources.
The position of CBS has alarmed many, including the union, as an attack on free press principles by one of the nation’s most esteemed press organizations.
I have spoken confidentially with current and former CBS employees who have stated that they could not recall the company ever taking such a step before. One former CBS journalist said that many employees “are confused why [Herridge] was laid off, as one of the correspondents who broke news regularly and did a lot of original reporting.”
That has led to concerns about the source of the pressure. He added that he had never seen a seizure of records from a departing journalist, and that the move had sent a “chilling signal” in the ranks of CBS.
A former CBS manager, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said that he had “never heard of anything like this.” He attested to the fact that, in past departures, journalists took all of their files and office contents. Indeed, the company would box up everything from cups to post-its for departing reporters. He said the holding of the material was “outrageous” and clearly endangered confidential sources.
Herridge declined to make any public comments on her departure.
CBS also did not respond to my inquiries about this.
A source within the the union, SAG-AFTRA, confirmed that it has raised this controversy with CBS and remains extremely concerned about the effect of this action on journalistic practices and source confidentiality. The union believes this is “very unusual” and goes far beyond this individual case. “It is a matter of principle,” a union spokesperson added. “It is a matter of serious concern. We are considering all of our options.”
For full disclosure, I was under contract twice with CBS as a legal analyst. I cherished my time at the network. I have also known Herridge for years in both legal and journalistic capacities.
CBS is one of the world’s premier news organizations, with a legendary history that includes figures from Murrow to Walter Cronkite to Roger Mudd. That is why the hiring of Herridge was so welcomed by many of us. The network was at risk of becoming part of the journalistic herd, an echo-chamber for Democratic and liberal narratives. It had been mired in third place for ages, and it was moving in the wrong direction by alienating half of the country.
Herridge had been a celebrated investigative reporter at Fox News. An old-school investigative journalist, she is viewed as a hard-driving, middle-of-the-road reporter cut from the same cloth as the network’s legendary figures.
The timing of Herridge’s termination immediately raised suspicions in Washington. She was pursuing stories that were unwelcomed by the Biden White House and many Democratic powerhouses, including the Hur report on Joe Biden’s diminished mental capacity, the Biden corruption scandal and the Hunter Biden laptop. She continued to pursue these stories despite reports of pushback from CBS executives, including CBS News President Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews.
Given the other layoffs and declining revenues, the inclusion of Herridge was defended by the network as a painful but necessary measure. But then something strange happened. The network grabbed Herridge’s notes and files and informed her that it would decide what, if anything, would be turned over to her. The files likely contain confidential material from both her stints at Fox and CBS. Those records, it suggests, are presumptively the property of CBS News.
For many of us who have worked in the media for decades, this action is nothing short of shocking. Journalists are generally allowed to leave with their files. Under the standard contract, including the one at CBS, journalists agree that they will make files available to the network if needed in future litigation. That presupposes that they will retain control of their files. Such files are crucial for reporters, who use past contacts and work in pursuing new stories with other outlets or who cap their careers with personal memoirs.
The heavy-handed approach to the files left many wondering if it was the result of the past reported tension over stories.
Regardless of motive, the company is dead wrong.
These files may contain sources who were given confidentiality by Herridge. The company is suggesting that the privilege of confidentiality (and the material) rest ultimately with CBS. As a threshold matter, that cannot be the case with regard to files that were generated during Herridge’s long stint with Fox News. Yet CBS appears to be retaining those files, too.
When sources accept confidentiality assurances, it is an understanding that rests with the reporter. It is a matter of trust that can take a long time to establish on a personal level between a reporter and a source.
It is certainly understood that the network stands behind that pledge. However, most sources understand that their identity and information will be kept protected by the reporter and only disclosed to a select group of editors or colleagues when necessary. It is the reporter who implicitly promises to go to jail to protect confidentiality — and many have done so. Such agreements are less likely to occur if sources are told that any number of unnamed individuals, including non-journalists, could have access or custody of these files.
When “Deep Throat” agreed to disclose his identity to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, he was assured that they would protect it until his death. He would not have been so inclined if he had been told that this was a type of privilege by committee with potential disclosures to corporate, legal and HR personnel. Reporters like Herridge have long served as the primary defenders of privileged sources. Indeed, Herridge is still in court defending confidentiality over a series of stories at Fox News in 2017, even at the risk of being held in contempt.
CBS is suggesting that it will allow unnamed individuals to rifle through Herridge’s files to determine what will remain with the network and what will be returned to the reporter. That could fundamentally alter how reporters operate and how willing sources are to trust assurances that they will be protected.
In criminal cases involving privileged information, the government has an elaborate “filter team” system to wall off access to information under review. In the court system, judges use in camera and ex parte reviews to protect such information. Ironically, the media itself seems to take a more ad hoc approach. Indeed, CBS seems to have adopted a “Trust us, we’re the media” approach. However, that could expose these files to the access of unnamed lawyers, tech staff and others who are conducting this inventory and analysis.
CBS should reconsider this move before it does real harm to itself or its reporters. Ironically, it should not want to be the custodian of such records, which can expose the company to production demands in litigation, such as the ongoing fight over the confidentiality of the Fox sources. To store such documents is to invite a storm of subpoenas.
CBS could be forcing a showdown with the union, which must protect not only this journalist but all journalists seeking to maintain control and confidentiality of their files.
The union may have no choice but to go to court to force CBS to protect journalistic values, including a demand for an injunction to force the company to secure these files and bar review until a court has had a chance to consider these questions of confidential and proprietary claims to the files.
Famed CBS anchor Walter Cronkite once said “our job is only to hold up the mirror — to tell and show the public what has happened.” It now appears that CBS itself will have to look into that mirror and answer some questions of what happened to the confidential records of Catherine Herridge.
Jonathan Turley is the J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro professor of public interest law at the George Washington University Law School.
Here is the statement of the SAG-AFTRA union:
SAG-AFTRA strongly condemns CBS News’ decision to seize Catherine Herridge’s reporter notes and research from her office, including confidential source information. 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.
The retention of a media professional’s reporting materials by their former employer is a serious break with traditional practices which supports the immediate return of reporting materials. We urge CBS to return this material to Catherine in support of the most basic of First Amendment principles. We are encouraged by recent outreach by CBS News to SAG-AFTRA on this matter, and we are hopeful that it will be resolved shortly.
CBS has a long history of firing its best investigative reporters, from Sheryl Atkisson to William L. Shirer in 1947. Can’t wait until the NYAG decides to take them over.
Lara Logan.
Iowan and Anonymous
The Tet offensive is what ended the Vietnam war. Our MSM and Westmorland painted the picture of American power crushing a guierlla force of Uncle Ho’s Viet Minh fighters. The Tet showed the American people it was a fight against a formidable foe, the NVA. Deaths continued to expand, South Vietnam political corruption and coups, the
MSM couldn’t hide it. Between Johnson, Macnamara, Nixon and Kissinger it would drag out to 1975 and forever alter America from the likes of communist sympathizers like the Weatherman and people like Hanoi Jane.
In honor of MACV SOG, 3/3 Mike Co. and 58,150 dead Americans, Semper Fi.
Traveler I never meant to imply there weren’t major events that got us to the end.
My largest point, in the theme of this post, is the outsized ego of the MSM and the power they believe to wield. Cronkite did talk about his personal role is causing the end of the war.
Understood
It was such a betrayal to the best of America by leadership. Just like Ukraine, Kennedy was right about the CIA and the conflict, look what it got him…
Truman and Eisenhower were right before Kennedy.
Truman never responded to Ho Chi Mhin’s letter seeking US help in supporting unification. Ho turned to China and we got what we got. It was totally preventable and Kennedy stated we would have fought with them for unification if the communists had not backed Ho.
The Tet Offensive was a military failure and a propaganda victory.
They are stealing the first amendment for the security and CIA state before your eyes.
Each chip they carve out means freedom is turning to slavery.
Be stupid and ignore it, who cares you’re dying soon.
After all demoncrats run the world get on with the slavery.
The problem is the progressive movement is turning our country into a Fascist nation whereby the Private Sector works hand in hand with a Socialist Government. While potentially benign, Fascism’s consolidation of power and the tendency to maintain the power, leads to abuses and atrocities.
The secret to Trump’s rise in power lies in the general public’s realizations of these Fascist tendencies and the perception that only Trump has the will and determination to fight back against these insidious tendencies.
Maybe it isn’t really CBS. Maybe alphabet agencies want to get their hands on her sources. And crush them. In Biden’s America nothing says ‘Democracy’ like a few nights in Epstein’s cell. I hear it is vacant now. And waiting.
Jonathan: Catherine Herridge is caught up in a wave industry wide mainstream media consolidation. What you don’t mention is that Paramount Global, that owns CBS, laid off 800 people as part of a cost cutting move amid speculation CBS is up for sale. Herridge wasn’t the only one. And it’s going on all over the industry. The WSJ, owned by your employer Rupert Murdock, just laid off reporters and editors in it’s DC bureau.
But you claim Herridge’s layoff “immediately raised suspicions in Washington”. “Suspicions” by whom beyond you? You apparently want us to believe Herridge’s layoff, coupled with CBS’s seizure of her files, has something to do with the fact she is a conservative, with 20 yrs at Fox, and critical in her coverage of the Biden WH. Without more facts surrounding Herridge’s layoff and the motive for CBS to select her, I think you are engaging in wide speculation.
The problem is really not about Herridge’s layoff. It’s a bigger problem. When I was much younger CBS, NBC and ABC were the main sources for news. I remember my family watching one of those channels every night over dinner. That was our only source of news except for local TV stations. The world of news has dramatically changed since back then. I now no long watch the three majors–except on occasion. On my laptop I have access to alternative news sources I can’t begin to count. It’s a cornucopia for news junkies like me. I suspect it’s the same thing for your followers on this blog.
So what is to be done for those who depend on news sources like the big three and Fox? With the layoff of so many reporters and editors voters are going to be deprived of vital news during this election. That’s not healthy for our Democracy. That’s the part you should have addressed in your column.
So Dennis, you are now on record as having no issue with CBS firing Herridge and seizing her notes? You have no issue with Biden’s WH going after the NY Times, THE NY TIMES, for being “too hard on Biden” and then having CBS fire the one and only reporter digging into his affairs?
Dennis, you are supporting the Stasi all in the name of either being a partisan hack or just being another contrarian weirdo.
The left is generating a very long list of actions they haven chosen to defend. Bidens raking in $30 million of income while not billing a single service or product. There are a dozen more
“’Suspicions’ by whom beyond you?”
Her union, for one. Or is the Left, just now, no longer a fan of unions?
“SAG-AFTRA strongly condemns CBS News’ decision to seize Catherine Herridge’s reporter notes and research from her office, including confidential source information. 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.”
To destroy the Bill of Rights, an organization must start at the top with number one. It was never a question that this would be how it would begin, just a question which of “the press” would get it started. Although I would have bet on Fox, CBS makes sense given their position in the market and their ‘leadership’. Hold onto your guns, cowboy!
Can anyone be surprised at this? CBS like the rest of the so-called mainstream media have devolved into outlets for the DNC. They are nothing but progressive propagandists. Don’t expect the Washington ComPost or the New York Totalitarians (NYT) to defend her right to keep sources confidential. It would not surprise me if CBS found a way to leak those sources to one of their fellow propogandists
In other news media news, third tier news outlet Vice Media went dark on its website.
The once $5.7BN dollar company acquired out of bankruptcy last year by a consortium including George Soros.
As some noted that literally nothing of value was lost.
Why are we putting up with lawlessness and tyranny?
Dear Prof Turley,
I’ve never heard of a ‘CBS’ reporter investigating the Biden(s). It must be an anomaly .. . proving the old journalism adage: hold your reporting close, but sleep with your notes.
If this reporter was investigating the Biden(s), I’m confident all her sources were linked to high-level Russians. Maybe Putin or Tucker Carlson.
*btw. it appears Jordon and Comey are too late to subpoena well trusted exFBI CHS Smirnov .. . he was re-arrested at his lawyers office.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/cbs-says-it-has-returned-notes-belonging-to-journalist-who-was-fired-for-investigating-hunter-biden-and-denies-trying-to-stop-her-reporting-as-ted-cruz-insists-she-was-punished-for-going-after-the-truth/ar-BB1iLL2g?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=e5adaf81d0d449d592317dad2d33e88b&ei=13
Why do you think that Smirnov can not be subpeonad by the house ?
Nothing that DOJ does prcludes that.
I would further note – “Rearresting” – based on an indictment that is on its face incredibly weak for a case that is going to be impoossible to prove, for an alleged lie that is immaterial, for a crime that typically does not result in jail, sound an awful lot like the same unconstitutional games that Muellers team was playing.
Lock the guy in solitary into they go mad an confess to anything you want.
All you have to do to get Hunter to confess to anything and Rat Joe out in a second is cut off his supply of hookers, crack and whiskey.
Prtobably would take more than a few hours for him to roll on his dead mother.
Regardless, this looks an awful lot like prosecutorial misconduct and judge shopping.
It is really a bad idea when you are already perceived as a political shill to provide even more evidence.
What constitution? Why bother with abiding by the constitution when all you have to do is ignore it.
Don’t you worry about that constitution bubba, Trump said he has a plan for that. Trump won’t bother abiding the constitution he said he would terminate it.
Trump never said that and you know it.
“When he makes claims like this, the press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally.”
Salena Zito 2016
Your suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome.
You are also stupid enough to beleive your frothing at the mouth will terrify ordinary people who KNOW would Trump actually is.
The 2024 election is going to be decided by people who
do not like what Trump says, and do not like what Biden does.
Do you want to bet whether voters care more about your efforts to ratchet hysteria by misquoting Trump out of context and them misunderstanding what he said ? Or whether they will be more affected by the actual illegal, immoral and unconstitutional actions of Pres. Biden ? Or just his failure.
The actual quote by Trump is:
“A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,”
Here is Jefferson, Adams and Franklin – as well as all of out founders saying EXACTLY the same thing.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, “
“Laid off”? She was fired….terminated with extreme political prejudiced. Quit playing with words.
Maybe she would have been better off if she worked for FOXNEWS, then she just would have had notes from FOX on what to say. Just ask Turley.
Fishstick,
Can you prove any of your allegations?
Or is just more of your hate and rage speaking?
Turley writing about another news organization with critical tones all the while he collects a paycheck from FOXNEWS deserves sarcasm and scorn. By the way, I have not been a fan of network news for years, and their agenda is just more subtle than the outright lies from FOXNEWS that is paying big bucks for their lies, at least the networks are not paying yet.
So, more of your hate and rage.
Got it. Thanks.
And if you had a degree of reading comprehension, you would of noticed that the good professor’s column appeared in The Hill.
Not Fox news.
My point being, he works for FOXNEWS. Could care less where he wrote it, maybe your reading comprehension needs a little work. Stating that Turley works for FOX isn’t rage and hate it’s fact.
Are you really that dumb?
You think the good professor only gets paid for what he writes by Fox? That The Hill did not pay him for today’s column? That other news outlets like The NY Post, USAToday, and once The Messenger dont pay him? Just Fox. He only works for Fox.
Ignoring those facts that he works for others, other than Fox is your hate and rage on full display for all to see.
Reading you twist and distort and pick anything that does not fit your pre-conceived mind-set is comic relief.
And your lack in logic or critical thinking is pure comedic gold!
Again, the good professor works for a multitude of news outlets.
Yet, we do not see you crying or venting your hate and rage at, say, USAToday or The Hill for employing the good professor.
Just Fox news.
Why is that?
The good professor also works for George Washington U. Are you going to vent your hate and rage at them too?
Upstate, why not just go bang your head against the wall instead of trying to use logic with a paid informer like Fishbrains.
HullBobby,
LOL!
Yeah, there is that.
But dissecting his simplistic comments with logic, pointing out his hate and rage, while done easily, is mildly amusing.
As he noted in the column – he has been paid for consulting at CBS.
As he has suck to what the law actually says not what ideologues want it to say, left wing outlets have stopped hiring him.
Just as they have Alan Derschowitz and myriads of other actual liberals.
We judge Fox and CBS and … as a whole by the accuracy of their reporting.
Whether you like it or not, though they all do badly, Fox does better than most.
That is NOT my opinion – that is the decision of the majority of news consumers as expressed in the market place.
Ratings are a measure of the number of people who consume a specific news outlet.
That is a measure of the amount they VALUE that outlet.
Which is an amalgam of all the criteria that they use to make that decision – primary in that is trust.
But within individual outlets and often moving between them are individuals – whose credibity is measured by consumers the same way.
It does not matter if Turley works for attila the Hun – viewers as have most posters here decided he id VERY cerdible.
Regardless of where he works.
Fox has not cornered the market on Truth or on lies.
Though CNN, CBS, MSNBC have all tried to corner the market on lies.
Turley receives payments from serval new organizations for his expert comentary – including in the past CBS.
I am not a big fan of Fox – but they atleast attempt to provide divergent views – almost all fox panels have atleast one democrat.
the MSM is the propoganda arm of the DNC today – they are worthless.
That is why they are not trusted and failing.
FishStink, like all Leftists, are progeny of Satan, the Father of Lies. They are commanded to propagate the Big Blue lie….and they do 24/7! If their wretched mouths are moving— they are lying.
Get help please.
CBS is failing – hiring Herridge was an effort to appeal to a wider market.
Firing her was an admission that the culture inside of CBS is incapable of understanding the values of most of the market.
The likely real losers here with be CBS Shareholders, and CBS staff.
Herridge will do fine elsewhere. Or she can join the long list of very successful independent journalists.
The issue of her notes is a separate issue – the legal part will be determined by courts over time.
But in the meantime Journalists everywhere are on notice that the left has zero respect for the constitution or a free press.
After reading the article I thought the Left is very good at destroying institutions that were once held in high esteem by the public. Why should the media fare any differently? Too bad. It is what it is and I don’t care.
And the right has done a bang up job of holding up institutions as the SCOTUS or the republican institution of fiscal responsibly or law and order or government staying out of medical decisions. Or the institution of the separation of church and state. Voting rights, personal responsibility and those are just a few that the right has stuck a fork in.
As used here, the term “Republican” is a proper noun….therefore, capitalize it, you Blue retard! “publik skool” graduate, I see.
When they act as “Republicans” and not the way they are now, a cult of personality of Trump, it will be corrected.
Is that the attack of the right from the left’s mortal sins ?
“the right has done a bang up job of holding up institutions as the SCOTUS” WE FINALLY HAVE A NOT TOTALLY WOKE COURT
“or the republican institution of fiscal responsibly”
demoncrats demand more money rfee medical, even for illegals they give first class aerobus flights to all over the USA while they fund the ngo’s that pay them thousands of dollars a month and now adams NYC 2.5 BILLION dollar free 10G’s nameless faceless credit cards !
“or law and order ”
BLM antifa and rampant crime in every demo big city and now political prosecutions everywhere, attacking catholics as terrorists
“or government staying out of medical decisions. ”
See above you doofus or see OBAMACARE THE FAILURE AND TRIPLE COST FOR ALL
“Or the institution of the separation of church and state. ”
you mean the new woke religion by demoncrats took over every business the entire government and every university of note
“Voting rights, ”
demoncrats steal 3 elections in a row 2018 2020 2022
“personal responsibility”
you mean government drug dens and street defecation paid for by taxpayers thanks demoncrats that responsible
I THINK IT’S AN IMPOSTER NOT FISH
I have problems with SCOTUS – all the justices defer way to much to government and care way to little about individual liberty.
That said – outside of a few specific issues such as abortion, the so called right wing justices tend to protect individual rights more and defer to government less than the so called left wing ones.
I would prefer a far more libertarian justice who followed the constitution as written.
But I do not have that choice and the right wing justices are by far the next best option.
Are republicans fiscally irresponsible – you betcha. But democrats are an order of magnitude worse.
Again if that is your criteria, your choices is between politicians that do not exist and republicans.
Democrats are not in the running.
“Staying out of medical decisions”
ROFL – you mean like mandatory vaccination – or how about forced sterilization of the mentally retarded – that is a great progressive Truimph that remains the law of the land. SCOTUS got abortion wrong, the right gets it wrong, the left gets it wrong.
You are correct that control of your own body is a right. Control of anothers is not. You have the right to remove a fetus from your body – even if that results in death. You do not have the right to require the death of the fetus. That is the only position that correctly reflects individual rights and AGAIN neither party is advocating for that.
Separation fo church and state is nowhere in the constitution. The first amendment assures that government will not establish an official religion and that people will be free to practice whatever religion they chose. It says absolutely nothing about religions meddling in government. The establishement cause is a one way sign.
You have the right to vote – ONCE. Voting rights also mean the REST OF US have the RIGHT to be sure that only citizens vote and only in the precinct in which they live and only once, and that only actual ballots by real legal voters are counted.
There is no right to vote from your couch.
There is no right to vote more than once.
There is not right assuring that voting will be easy.
Technically there is not even a constitutional right to vote.
Voting rights is nto anything you claim it to be.
It is the actual right to vote if you are a citizen in the precinct in which you live on election day, in secret for the candidates you choose,
and to have your vote counted – and every other legitimate voter and not a single ballot counted that is not from a legitimate voter.
Assuring voting rights is trivially easy.
Vote in person on election day, in secret in the precinct you live proving proof that you are who you claim to be and are eligible to vote, on a paper ballot that never leaves the precinct that is publicly counted in that precinct immediately after the polls close.
“Personal Responsibility”
ROFL.
The left is litterally the champions of lack of personal responsibility.
So funny watching left wing ‘journalists’ get their panties in a twist when something happens to one of their own. They have had no issue with running complete cover for Biden while attacking Trump non-stop for 7 years, in their job as the media wing of the democratic party. Now that people are tired of their never ending defense of Biden and attacks on Trump and don’t watch/read, they get laid off…..i hope to see them on a street corner holding a sign that says ‘Will Hate Trump for Food’.
But they condone American Gonzalas Lira murdered in the Ukraine prison by the demoncrats nazis of banderra and soon the edath knell for Julianne Assange under biden the demon – it’s cool to murder 2 reporters that expose demoncrats
If the corporate media has access to the confidential sources of its journalists, investigative reporting will end if it is contrary to the interests of the party in power or the entrenched bureaucracy. Those who own or control large corporations cannot afford to risk attack by the state. They will surrender confidential sources in a heartbeat if their interests are threatened. This is why journalists on substack, rumble and other independent sites will come to dominate investigative reporting over time.
Daniel,
Well said and I agree.
The possible problem I see on the horizon is those journalists on sites like substack, rumble and other independent sites, will become a real threat to the entrenched bureaucracy. In order to combat “misinformation!” they will declare some kind of government approved only news outlets that, of course, are loyal to the entrenched bureaucracy.
We have already seen the Biden admin try.
They already are. I have not relied directly on “corprate media in over a decade”.
CBS, NBC, WSJ, WaPO are among the myriads of sources that I rely on – and far from the most trusted.
The corporate media is on its last legs.
Increasingly people are relying on independent journalism and new agregators are serving the function of networks.
Turley’s entire article is just a debate about how corporate media dies.
May not pay as well, but I am sure independent news outlets like The Free Press would love to have her.
Or she could join up with Sharyl Attkisson. I am sure they could have a real good time!
Most of those involved claim that it pays much better, and you are in control of your own journalism.
It is a different model.
What it is NOT amendable to is mega news corps with top down control of what is reported.
Catherine Herridge is arguably the Gold Standard of investigative journalism in America. If CBS kept just one reporter on staff, it should be her. That CBS let her go and seized her files is an ominous sign that storm clouds are on the horizon.
Agree.
I am surprised that the blog article does not discuss “work product” property rights and/or “intellectual property ownership agreements,” — fairly common out there, whether an individual is retained as either an employee or an independent contractor.
To that end, I believe Sam’s earlier comment is on-point, i.e., the significance of “abnormal” retention and the underlying motive in this case.
(notwithstanding the protection of confidential sources)
𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐤𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝, Worker and labor union activist at the Kerr-McGee nuclear facility in Oklahoma. She met an untimely and mysterious death in 1974 in a car collision while investigating her employer’s alleged wrongdoings.
𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐆𝐮𝐧, Whistleblower who leaked a memo revealing an unlawful surveillance mission carried out by American and British intelligence agencies.
CIA officer 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞, whose cover was blown by the Bush administration in retaliation after her husband criticized the administration’s rationale for invading Iraq in 2003 and commencing the Iraq War.
𝐄𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐡, Legal Clerk and environmental activist who played a crucial role in the lawsuit against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company in the 1990s.
𝐄𝐝𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐒𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐝𝐞𝐧 & 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬, Exposed the United States government’s clandestine surveillance programs.
𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, Whistle-blower disclosing to WikiLeaks nearly 750,000 classified, or unclassified but sensitive, military and diplomatic documents.
Senate staffer 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐉. 𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬, who led an investigation into the CIA’s use of torture in the wake of 9/11.
𝐍𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, The Criminal defense lawyer best known for representing two Guantanamo Bay detainees
𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭, Lawyer who undertook a decades-long battle with DuPont over the company’s environmental contamination and cover-up.
𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 & 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐭, Uncovered a string of illegal activities undertaken by the Nixon administration, including the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate complex.
𝐉𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐲 𝐖𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐝, Tobacco industry executive who risks everything to expose the corrupt practices of his former employer.
𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐞, Executive at Archer Daniels Midland who became an FBI informant in a price-fixing investigation.
𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐦, 𝐁𝐞𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠, former RAND employee – The Pentagon Papers
𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐨, New York City police officer who uncovered the widespread corruption plaguing the department during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
𝐆𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐝, 𝐉𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐲 𝐒𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐬, 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫, 𝐄𝐝𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐒𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐝𝐞𝐧, 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐅. 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐉𝐫., 𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐓𝐚𝐢𝐛𝐛𝐢, … just normal 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 that dare to speak out.
𝐄𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐡, Legal Clerk and environmental activist who played a crucial role in the lawsuit against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company in the 1990s.
For a problem that did not, nor ever existed.
There never was elevated rate of cancer in Hinkley California.
Valery Plame? Still with that smear? She’d been office bound and revealed as a past operative for years before the claimed outing.
Back-Up Files – I use that suggestion lightly because of what happened to Seth Rich (Killed for a USB with Back-Up Files).
Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and now Catherine Herridge, ‘stumbled upon’ information that is detrimental to their health.
‘The truth will set you Free’ and it can also get you Killed.
Catherine, take it in stride and move on with your life – It/They are not worth it.
‘The truth will set you Free’ and it can also get you Clinton-ed.’ Ask Vince Foster and literally dozens more.
In the news lately, the FBI still refuses to release Rich’s computer. Hard to justify such secrecy. All the events point to Rich being the source of the DNC email leak )not Russia
When government is keeping secrets you can be sure that what they are hiding is damning.
Does not matter if it is regarding Obama authorizing spying on Trump and associated prior to the election and PRIOR to the steele dossier.
Or refusal to allow observers to the counting of an election.
or refusal to allow legal scrutiny,
or refusal to provide Seth Riches laptop.
Because it is quite complex and very situational specific – particularly at the level of people like Herridge.
While I beleive she is an “employee” rather than a “consultant” – which radically changes the defaults under the law,
She is also a high value individually negotiated contract employee – which might have more power than even a consultant.
It is highly likely that IP rights and work product ownership were spelled out in her contract.
And contracts always trump default law regarding work product ownership.
I almost always work as a consultant – sometimes with a contract sometimes not.
The defaults as a consultant are that I own my work, but those who hired me have an unlimited right to use or modify.
Sometimes a client wants a contract. I like contracts but it is not the norm. Most of the time contracts for my work do not specify – which I am OK with the defaults favor me.
Rarely I work on a W2 basis, on those occasions I make sure that there is a contract that gives me the future right to use and build on my own work, otherwise you are not hiring me.
I was just thinking about how poorly news around the globe is covered in the US. We cannot be a superpower nation and be so provincial and insulated from what is going on globally. These news organizations (CBS’ 60 Minutes and Sports are the only properties worth keeping going) have let their audiences down. The politicization of news puts us on the path to becoming a Weimar Germany in the early 1930s.
We are an ocean away from nearly all the rest of the world.
Little of what happens elsewhere directly effects us.
The world of global instant news from everywhere is a BAD thing not a good one.
100 years ago, you likely only knew about what happened in your community,
Today if someone does something bad 10,000 miles away we hear of it.
And you wonder why we have an epidemic of anxiety and depression.
Contra those on the left the world is actually a pretty good place.
While very bad things happen every single day.
It is at the same time true that for nearly all of us, it is highly unlikely that the things that fill the nose will happen to us or anyone we know.
They make the news BECAUSE they are very rare – unusual.
Bad things happen everyday. That does nto require all 8 billion people in the world to cry and gnash their teeth over something that will never happen to them, or anyone they actually know that happened thousands of miles away.
Most of the people in the world are decent – on their own. They are only dangerous when they give power to others – particularly to government.