Photo: Catherine Herridge Catherine Herridge, an Emmy-winning and nominated reporter known for her work on national security and intellige...
Catherine Herridge, an Emmy-winning and nominated reporter known for her work on national security and intelligence, was held in civil contempt by a federal judge on Thursday for her steadfast refusal to reveal her confidential sources in a case concerning an FBI investigation.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Christopher Cooper, an appointee of Barack Obama, imposed a daily fine of $800 on Herridge. This fine, however, will be delayed to allow Herridge the opportunity to appeal the decision.
This coercive measure seeks to compel compliance with an order to testify about her sources for a series of stories published six years ago regarding a Chinese American scientist, Yanping Chen.
In August, Cooper ordered Herridge to sit down for a sworn deposition regarding a confidential source she used for a 2017 story she covered on a Department of Defense-funded school that was at the center of federal investigations over Chinese military ties while she was at Fox News.
The judge ordered Herridge to turn over her source(s) in response to a lawsuit that was filed by Chinese-American scientist Yanping Chen against the FBI. Chen subpoenaed Herridge in an effort to find out who her sources were.
However, the Obama judge concluded that Chen’s right to evidence in the lawsuit supersedes the qualified privilege afforded to journalists under the First Amendment.
“The Court recognizes both the vital importance of a free press and the critical role that confidential sources play in the work of investigative journalists like Herridge,” Cooper wrote in the ruling in August. “But applying the binding case law of this Circuit, the Court concludes that Chen’s need for the requested evidence overcomes Herridge’s qualified First Amendment privilege in this case.”
In his order on Thursday, Cooper warned that his ruling would carry significant consequences for the journalistic community.
“The Court does not reach this result lightly,” Cooper wrote. “It recognizes the paramount importance of a free press in our society and the critical role that confidential sources play in the work of investigative journalists like Herridge. Yet the Court also has its own role to play in upholding the law and safeguarding judicial authority.”
This ruling followed CBS’ decision to seize all files from Catherine Herridge subsequent to her dismissal from the network.
This action included materials that may reveal information about confidential sources, according to an article by Jonathan Turley, Shapiro Chair of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, in The Hill.
In his article titled “CBS faces uproar after seizing investigative journalist’s files,” Turley sheds light on the concerns that have emerged within the journalistic community at CBS.
Herridge’s colleagues were alarmed by the company’s unprecedented steps to take possession of her work materials, including sensitive information on sources promised confidentiality.
“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 seizure of Herridge’s files, which span her impressive career at both CBS and previously at Fox News, has sent a “chilling signal” through the ranks, suggesting a potential crackdown on journalistic freedom and source protection.
This week, CBS News has returned ‘several boxes’ containing reporting materials to award-winning journalist Catherine Herridge following an intervention by SAG-AFTRA amidst concerns over press freedom and the protection of confidential sources.
The materials were handed back to Herridge at her CBS News office in Washington D.C., with a union representative present to monitor the process. The contents of these boxes, which include files related to confidential sources, are currently under review by Herridge.
No comments