Catherine Herridge Shares Union Statement Condemning CBS News’ Seizure of Her Notes
Kristina Wong
23 Feb 2024 5:12
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Veteran investigative journalist Catherine Herridge, whom CBS News laid off last week, shared a statement on Friday that appeared to confirm that the network had seized notes from her office after she had been let go in an unusual and heavy-handed manner that called into question the network’s motives.
Herridge, who reported on the Justice Department and other national security matters, had been reporting on the Hunter Biden laptop scandal for the network and was in the middle of a First Amendment case after refusing to turn over to an Obama-appointed federal judge the name of a source for an investigative piece she wrote for Fox News in 2017.
“Important update via @sagaftra,” Herridge posted on X, along with the union’s statement.
The statement came after an article on Tuesday by The Hill columnist and former CBS News legal analyst Jonathan Turley that said CBS News had seized Herridge’s files — a highly unusual practice when a news employee is laid off. It said:
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.
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I have often blogged about the need to recognize that you are not your job AND your employer is nothing more than cruel heartless soulless monster. I learned this from being fired four times in my career. Bit after the first time, I was never again caught unaware. And in one case, profited from it.
FROM A PAST BLOG POST
On Wall Street, it was “common practice” for brokers (aka “financial consultants”, :”wealth managers”, etc. etc.) to keep a duplicate “shadow book” at home. This would be all their contacts and their information as well as portfolio holdings record. When they were “walked out”, their ”significant others”, who were not covered my NDAs or non-competes, would be on the phone letting “their Customers” know the news. Usually in a day or two, they were hired by a competitor and “their Customers” would be transferring their account to the new firm. Often, before a replacement was found for the departed, the Customer were already gone. That’s called “job security”. Brokerage house were always trying to discourage that “personal relationship” by inserting “assistants” into the process and relationships. But “high net worth” individuals want that “personal high maintenance touch”.
So you must ALWAYS keep an insurance policy that your “resources” never disappear.
In the cited story, not only was this reporter’s material seized but even her twitter handle appears to be inexorably linked to her former employer.
Remember the Company laptop, phone, and even your twitter handle is at risk.
Diversify, duplicate, and back up to your own resources.
For the longest time, personally, I would regularly print ALL emails and, when I got home, scaned them on a high-speed scanner and immediately shredded them. Never knew what I’d need later in life. And form time to time, they came in handy. With the advent of better search tools for PDFs, it’s an even better and easier habit to do.
YMMV but just remember what you are dealing with.
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Reinke Faces Life 