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One Very Prominent CBS Correspondent Caught Up in 'Bloodbath' Layoffs by Paramount

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  February 14, 2024 9:45 AM

The parent company of CBS, Paramount Global, is reducing the company’s workforce by 3 percent in what the New York Post is calling a "bloodbath." Among the 800 employees notified Tuesday that they were out of a job were 20 CBS News reporters, including a well known, award-winning senior correspondent.

“To those with whom we are parting ways, we are incredibly grateful for your hard work and dedication,” Paramount chief Bob Bakish said in an internal memo, according to the Guardian. “Your talents have helped us advance our mission of unleashing the power of content around the world. We are a better company because of you.

“While I realize these changes are in no way easy … I am confident this is the right decision for our future," he added. "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.”

CBS News' Washington bureau "was hit particularly hard," with sources telling the Post they do not believe all of the layoffs were an attempt to cut costs.

Catherine Herridge, who covered national security and intelligence out of the DC bureau, was among those caught up in the mass layoffs. 

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Sources said Herridge had clashed with CBS News president Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews — a sharp-elbowed executive who was investigated in 2021 over favoritism and discriminatory hiring and management practices, as revealed by The Post.

Others in Washington affected by the layoffs include: 

CBS News correspondent Jeff Pegues, who was subjected to HR probes over his workplace behavior, including an alleged incident in which he dressed down a female colleague in a “20-minute rant.”

When the incident was investigated in 2021, insiders said, Ciprian-Matthews — who insiders have accused of promoting minorities while unfairly sidelining white journalists — attempted to “blame” the female correspondent and eventually gave Pegues a promotion.

That’s despite prior allegations that Pegues had been “lashing out” and “bullying” younger female reporters who “outworked” him, a former CBS manager told The Post.

“She got rid of her enemies under the guise of budget cuts,” one source said of Ciprian-Matthews after Tuesday’s layoffs.

“She cleared the deck and she had to sacrifice some others like Pegues.” [...]

Also among those laid off on Tuesday was Christina Ruffini, a political correspondent who has been featured on “CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell,” “CBS Mornings” and “CBS Sunday Morning.” 

Pamela Falk, CBS News correspondent for the United Nations based in New York, was also laid off, according to sources. (New York Post)

Herridge, who had just reported on how Biden may have "retained sensitive documents related to specific countries involving his family’s foreign business dealings," is also involved in a First Amendment legal fight, and could soon be held in contempt of court for not revealing her source for a 2017 investigative piece she wrote when she was employed by Fox News. She could be ordered to personally pay fines ranging from $500 to $5,000 per day.

The case is highly concerning to First Amendment advocates.

“The idea that a journalist might personally have to suffer the consequences is extremely chilling,” Caitlin Vogus, deputy director of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, told The Washington Post. “That’s going to make you think twice about how far you can go to protect your sources.”