Former CBS News Reporter Tells Congress She Endured 'A Journalistic Rape' When Fired

Veteran investigative journalist Catherine Herridge, formerly of CBS News (Lean Left bias), testified before Congress on Friday, saying she endured “a journalistic rape” from the network.

The Details: Herridge told the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday she was fired via a Zoom meeting and locked out of her office and email account. CBS, she said, seized hundreds of her files, some of which included confidential source information. The files were eventually returned with the help of the media industry union, SAG-AFTRA.

For Context: The hearings were themed around press freedoms and the bipartisan PRESS Act, which Straight Arrow News (Center bias) notes “would prohibit the federal government from compelling journalists to disclose protected information.” In February, a federal judge held Herridge in contempt of court for refusing to share her sources for a 2017 story she published while at Fox News (Right bias).

Key Quote: “When the network of Walter Cronkite ceases your reporting files, including confidential source information, that is an attack on investigative journalism,” Herridge told the committee. “The bipartisan PRESS Act, which came out of this House committee, would put an end to the sort of legal jeopardy that I have experienced firsthand in the federal courts,” she concluded.

How The Media Covered It: The story was not widely covered by the Left or Center. Mediaite (Lean Left bias) called the PRESS Act “bipartisan” and prominently featured Herridge’s February contempt ruling. Straight Arrow News provided ample context on the PRESS Act and blamed both Democratic and Republican administrations for “surreptitiously seizing source information from journalists.”