Roughly 20 CBS Information staffers got termination notices Tuesday on account of broader layoffs going down throughout Paramount International.
The cuts prolonged throughout CBS Information operations in Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles, in line with two individuals aware of the matter, and included two of the information operation’s most outstanding correspondents, Jeff Pegues and Catherine Herridge, these individuals mentioned.
A CBS Information spokesperson didn’t reply instantly to a question searching for remark. The Wall Avenue Journal beforehand reported on the variety of layoffs, whereas The New York Submit reported on a few of the staffers who had been affected.
Pegues was named CBS Information’ chief nationwide affairs and justice correspondent in March of 2021, whereas Herridge has labored as an investigative correspondent at CBS Information in Washington since becoming a member of the operation in 2019 after a protracted stint at Fox Information Channel.
Herridge has been embroiled in a court docket case for work she did at Fox Information that unveiled {that a} Chinese language-American scientist was being scrutinized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a part of a counterintelligence probe. The scientist has sued the FBI for leaking her identify and subpoenaed Herridge and Fox Information in an effort to unmask her sources. Fox Information and Herridge have fought in opposition to it, citing the First Modification.
Different CBS Information staffers who’ve been laid off embody Christina Ruffini, a CBS Information correspondent who has been with the unit since she was an intern, and Pamela Falk, a CBS Information correspondent who covers the United Nations.
Staffers at CBS Information weren’t shocked by the layoffs. They had been telegraphed beforehand by Paramount International CEO Bob Bakish. Paramount has struggled within the period of streaming video in opposition to bigger rivals like Netflix and Amazon, firms that don’t have the burden of getting to keep up linear TV belongings like CBS, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. Paramount has grappled with trimming streaming funding prices even because it has seen a shortfall in promoting income in current quarters.
Even so, some staff questioned Paramount’s choice to unveil layoffs Tuesday, in the future after congratulating staffers for the corporate’s Sunday-night broadcast of Tremendous Bowl LVIII, which set new viewership information on each CBS and for accrued viewing throughout a number of platforms. Roughly 120 million individuals considered the Massive Sport between the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers on CBS, and executives have indicated the corporate expects a haul of promoting income that’s better than the $600 million seen by Fox for its 2023 broadcast of the occasion.
The removing of Pegues and Herridge leaves a gap in CBS Information’ protection of the U.S. Division of Justice and nationwide safety, in line with one of many individuals aware of the matter. Ruffini spent a piece of her time masking the U.S. Division of State.
