Opinion
CBS News President Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews, recently implicated in the firing of investigative journalist Catherine Herridge, will receive a First Amendment Award from the RTDNA Foundation.
Ciprián-Matthews, along with 12 other winners, will be honored on March 9 at the 33rd Annual First Amendment Awards at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C.
“The RTDNA Foundation selected Ciprián-Matthews for his commitment to excellent and ethical journalism, especially at a time when the stakes are so high,” reads the statement announcing the award.
“His leadership during some of the most challenging news stories in American history is a testament to the power of journalism,” he adds.
His choice is surprising considering his recent involvement in the firing of a journalist who was investigating the Biden family.
RELATED: CBS seizes materials from fired reporter who was investigating Hunter Biden
CBS News chief receives free speech award after Herridge firing
Reports last week revealed that Ciprián-Matthews was more than just a peripheral player in Herridge’s sacking.
Herridge had been actively investigating one aspect of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal before she was fired, as well as covering the House impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report on his handling of classified documents, and criminal charges against first child. .
Jonathan Turley, a legal scholar and former CBS analyst, reported that Herridge “continued to pursue these stories despite reports of pushback from CBS executives, including CBS News President Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews.”
The New York Post described Ciprián-Matthews as the “leader who signed off on Catherine Herridge’s controversial ouster.”
Furthermore, after letting Herridge go, CBS News was publicly denounced by SAG-AFTRA, the union representing the network’s employees, for seizing files, computers and documents locked in his office.
Only after a public outcry – and several days – did CBS return the classified files.
RELATED: CBS News returns confidential files to investigative reporter, but skeptics wonder what they did with them during that time
Herridge is involved in an active First Amendment case
Making Ciprián-Matthews’ choice as a free speech advocate even more interesting is the fact that the chaos involving Herridge also coincides with the latter’s First Amendment court case.
Herridge faces significant potential fines for protecting the identity of a source used for a report written in 2017 regarding a Chinese American scientist who was investigated by the FBI but never accused of wrongdoing.
In addition to allegedly being involved in limiting Herridge’s free speech rights, Ciprián-Matthews was also the subject of a human resources investigation into attempts to marginalize some journalists based on their skin color.
According to a New York Post article, she was “accused of using her influence to promote minorities by unfairly marginalizing white journalists — a ‘rousing’ and ‘divisive’ practice that sparked numerous employee complaints and a major investigation internal in 2021”.
The hypocrisy of the mainstream media never ceases to amaze.
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