RTDNA Criticized For Honoring CBS News Executive

The CBS News boss who signed off on the controversial ouster of Catherine Herridge — a respected Washington correspondent who has been embroiled in a high-profile First Amendment case — is nevertheless being honored with a free speech award next month.

CBS News president Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews was selected by Radio Television Digital News Association to be among 13 honorees at the 33rd annual First Amendment Awards at The Watergate Hotel in Washington DC on March 9.

Catherine Herridge

The irony was not lost on CBS News insiders who cited the fact that the exec was played a role in pushing out Herridge — an award-winning investigative reporter who is under pressure from a US District Court judge for not revealing how she learned about a federal probe into a Chinese American scientist.

The RTDNA faces backlash for honoring CBS News president Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, who green-lit the ousting of Catherine Herridge, the reporter embroiled in a high-stakes First Amendment case.

The RTDNA faces backlash for honoring CBS News president Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, who green-lit the ousting of Catherine Herridge, the reporter embroiled in a high-stakes First Amendment case.

Herridge may soon be held in contempt of court for not divulging her source for an investigative piece she penned in 2017 when she worked for Fox News and be ordered to personally pay fines that could total as much as $5,000 a day.

“The RTDNA must be tone deaf to give Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews and CBS News an award for the First Amendment,” said a longtime journalist. “It tarnishes the whole meaning of the award.”