UPDATE: SAG-AFTRA stated that CBS Information has returned correspondent Catherine Herridge‘s information, although the community has disputed that they’d seized her materials after she was laid off.

In an announcement, SAG-AFTRA stated that they have been “happy to verify that earlier at this time a consultant of our union monitored the return of a number of bins containing Catherine Herridge’s reporting supplies from her CBS Information workplace in Washington D.C. Herridge is at the moment reviewing the supplies. 

“We welcome CBS Information’ reversal which got here after SAG-AFTRA’s intervention and widespread media protection that underscored shared issues about press freedom and the First Modification.”

The community, nonetheless, had challenged the notion that they have been retaining the supplies.

“Catherine’s private belongings have been delivered to her dwelling one week in the past, and we’re ready to pack up the remainder of her information instantly on her behalf – together with her consultant current as she requested,” a community spokesperson stated final week. “We’re awaiting a response from Catherine and/or her consultant to take action. Now we have revered her request to not undergo the information, and out of our concern for confidential sources, the workplace she occupied has remained safe since her departure.”

Herridge was a senior investigative correspondent for the community however she was among the many 20 or so newsroom staffers laid off earlier this month.

Final week, The Hill posted a bit from legislation professor Jonathan Turley by which he claimed that the community “took the weird step of seizing her information, computer systems and data, together with info on privileged sources.” He stated that Herridge “was pursuing tales that have been unwelcomed by the Biden White Home and plenty of Democratic powerhouses.”

Turley, although, has been a controversial partisan authorized determine, significantly for a later op ed in The Hill by which he instructed that authorized troubles have been a Joe Biden “household trait acquired by way of generations of pure choice.” He even cited the president’s great-great-grandfather Moses Robinette, who through the Civil Warfare was discovered responsible of tried homicide.

PREVIOUSLY: SAG-AFTRA condemned CBS Information following a report that the community seized correspondent Catherine Herridge’s information after she was laid off earlier this month, however the community is disputing that’s what occurred.

Herridge, who was a senior investigative correspondent overlaying nationwide safety and intelligence, was among the many 20 or so information division staffers laid off amid a spherical of price slicing all through Paramount World.

Earlier at this time, The Hill posted a bit from legislation professor Jonathan Turley by which he claimed that the community “took the weird step of seizing her information, computer systems and data, together with info on privileged sources.” He wrote that the community was attempting to find out what was proprietary info, and he stated that Herridge “was pursuing tales that have been unwelcomed by the Biden White Home and plenty of Democratic powerhouses.”

A community supply, although, disputed the report that her information had been seized.

A CBS Information spokesperson stated in an announcement, “Catherine’s private belongings have been delivered to her dwelling one week in the past, and we’re ready to pack up the remainder of her information instantly on her behalf – together with her consultant current as she requested. We’re awaiting a response from Catherine and/or her consultant to take action. Now we have revered her request to not undergo the information, and out of our concern for confidential sources, the workplace she occupied has remained safe since her departure.”

SAG-AFTRA, which represents on-air correspondents, issued an announcement this afternoon condemning the community.

“This motion is deeply regarding to the union as a result of it units a harmful precedent for all media professionals and threatens the very basis of the First Modification,” the union stated.

“It’s fully inappropriate for an employer to put off a reporter and take the very uncommon step of retaining and looking the reporter’s information, inclusive of confidential supply identification and data. From a First Modification standpoint, a media company with a dedication to journalism calling a reporter’s analysis and confidential supply reporting ‘proprietary info’ is each stunning and absurd,” SAG-AFTRA stated.

“The retention of a media skilled’s reporting supplies by their former employer is a severe break with conventional practices which helps the instant return of reporting supplies. We urge CBS to return this materials to Catherine in assist of essentially the most fundamental of First Modification rules.”

Herridge’s consultant didn’t return a request for remark, and she or he has not commented on her departure from the community.