In this episode of Life Imitates Art...
While my headline looks like it could be from the satire site "The Babylon Bee," it's not. Unfortunately, it's true. Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews, the new and super woke president of CBS News, has been selected as one of “13 honorees at the 33rd annual First Amendment Awards” set for March 9 in Washington, D.C., by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA).
Yep, the person who signed off on the termination of one of the best investigative journalists in the U.S. is going to receive a free-speech award. Brent Bozell, founder of Media Research Center, summed it up perfectly:
Can't make this up. CBS News fires @CBS_Herridge, then steals her notes, and in disgrace is forced to return them. A week later, the president of @CBSNews who signed off on that theft receives an industry free speech award.
Can't make this up. CBS News fires @CBS_Herridge, then steals her notes, and in disgrace is forced to return them.
— Brent Bozell (@BrentBozell) February 28, 2024
A week later, the president of @CBSNews who signed off on that theft receives an industry free speech award. https://t.co/km5O8sVVKd
Even worse, as I told a friend before I began this article, Herridge's termination likely boosted Ciprián-Matthews's chance of being named a recipient of the award.
An unnamed veteran journalist put it this way:
The RTDNA must be tone-deaf to give Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews and CBS News an award for the First Amendment. It tarnishes the whole meaning of the award.
“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.” https://t.co/1fVkpp8fDc
— Randy Trudy Howell (@RandyHwll) February 27, 2024
Memo to the unnamed veteran journalist: The media's First Amendment ship left the harbor long before Ciprián-Matthews was selected to receive the meaningless award.
On the contrary, neither Ciprián-Matthews nor her organization is tone-deaf at all; they simply prefer a different "tone" — a tone that doesn't include award-winning investigative journalists doing award-winning investigative journalist things.
RTDNA President Dan Shelley gushed over Ciprián-Matthews and her commitment to "excellent and ethical journalism."
The Foundation selected Ciprián-Matthews for her commitment to excellent and ethical journalism, especially at a time when the stakes are so high. Her leadership during some of the most challenging news stories in American history is a testament to the power of journalism.
What "stakes" are we talking about, Mr. Shelley? Continuing the flow of illegal aliens into the country, or maybe keeping former President Donald Trump out of the White House? And, of course, the whole self-selected pronouns and "gender-fluidity" thing. Then there's abortion on demand. And on it goes.
A CBS source said the decision to terminate Herridge was made by higher-ups in the Washington D.C. bureau, where Herridge was based, and that Ciprián-Matthews and other company executives approved of the decision. The source also proffered that the firing did not diminish Ciprián-Matthews's record.
This restructuring does not in any way reflect on or diminish Ingrid’s well-deserved and outstanding journalistic record, [further describing the CBS News head as] a highly regarded executive with decades of experience upholding the highest values of journalism.
Nonsense. Herridge was and remains one of the country's most effective and respected investigative journalists.
The Bottom Line
Slowly but insidiously surely, the quasi-official Democrat state media is chipping away at the First Amendment rights of free speech and freedom of the press. Perhaps Ms. Herridge's interpretation of the First Amendment hasn't "grown" since it was written — which doesn't bode well for ethical journalists in the Land of the Woke.
Related:
CBS Returns Catherine Herridge's Files, but Sources Dish on More Questions
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