Award-winning journalist Catherine Herridge is reportedly one of a number of senior reporters at CBS News caught up in a round of layoffs reportedly rocking Paramount Global.
The cuts, reportedly impacting about 800 jobs, constitute about 3% of Paramount’s total workforce. Paramount CEO Bob Bakish told employees in an internal memo that the drastic cuts are necessary for the financial health of the company.
“These adjustments will help enable us to build on our momentum and execute our strategic vision for the year ahead — and I firmly believe we have much to be excited about,” Bakish wrote, according to Yahoo Finance.
The downsizing has turned some employees against Bakish after he was paid $32 million last year despite the company’s struggles.
“Everybody in the newsroom is pissed that Bob Bakish is making over $30 million and he’s making these cuts,” one insider told the New York Post.
The cuts bled into CBS News, which employs about 2,000 people. Roughly 20 people received notice that they were being let go, including some of the news outlet’s top talent such as Herridge.
Herridge, formerly a reporter for Fox News, is under pressure from U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper to divulge her sources in a series of stories she wrote for Fox involving a federal investigation of a Chinese American scientist. Herridge has so far refused to give up her sources and faces the possibility of being held in contempt of court. She could also be fined as much as $5,000-a-day.
Herridge’s case has been closely watched by news organizations and First Amendment advocates over its implications for the future of anonymous reporting of sensitive stories.
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While at CBS News, Herridge has continued to break stories on national security and significant legal issues.
CBS News also let go of other senior reporting talent such as Jeff Pegues, who joined the network in 2013 and served as its chief national affairs and justice correspondent. Christina Ruffini, who covers foreign affairs and the State Department, and Pamela Falk, who covers the United Nations, are also said to be leaving, according to Deadline.