(TotalConservative.com) – At the orders of its parent company Paramount Global, CBS News let go of several of its employees in a mass layoff, including award-winning senior correspondent Catherine Herridge.
On Tuesday, Feb. 13, Paramount Global slashed 800 jobs, about 3% of the company’s total workforce, according to a report from the New York Post. The layoffs are the latest sign of a struggling media industry adjusting to the rapidly changing landscape of independent media and streaming services, which are now dominating traditional television. Another factor was last year’s Hollywood strike, as well as a shaky economy.
CBS News, which has almost 2,000 employees, just laid off 20 of its workers, even after raking in hundreds of millions in advertising revenue during the Super Bowl. In fact, Super Bowl LVIII turned out to be the most-watched program in the history of television.
Herridge was among those let go in the staff reduction. She joined the network back in 2019 after leaving Fox News, covering intelligence and national security issues as a senior investigative correspondent. Some of the stories she covered at Fox regarding a federal investigation of Yanping Chen, a Chinese-American scientist, resulted in a First Amendment legal battle.
According to reports, Herridge clashed with Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, President of CBS News. In 2021, Ciprian-Matthews was investigated over allegations of discriminatory hiring practices and favoritism.
Also cut from the staff was Jeff Pegues, a correspondent who was recently investigated for alleged misconduct in the workplace. Another was political correspondent Christina Ruffini who was regularly featured on “CBS Mornings,” “CBS Sunday Morning,” and “CBS Evening News with Norag O’Donnell.” United Nations correspondent Pamela Falk was on the chopping block, as well.
The layoffs come as Americans continue to move away from the “old guard” mainstream outlets. More and more people are rejecting networks like CBS and Fox as public trust in these companies continues to erode. They are also taking their time and attention to independent media outlets, which have been on the rise over the last twenty years with the advent of social media platforms and video platforms like YouTube.
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