Last month Axios reported about an ongoing "media bloodbath," and journos weren't finding "learn to code" and "you can be trained to make solar panels" advice to be nearly as useful (or humorous) as it was when they were saying it to laid off pipeline or coal workers.
Nearly a dozen mainstream media companies are gutting staff and scrambling to rescue their struggling businesses.
Why it matters: The media business is shrinking at the national, state and local levels — a scary, stark new reality for thousands of journalists.
The big picture: Media cuts were so severe last year that most industry observers weren't expecting such intense cutbacks in 2024. But an ongoing bloodbath is decimating news outlets nationwide.
One reporter recently caught up in a wave of media layoffs is CBS News's Catherine Herridge, one of the few in the field who does actual reporting and not narrative pushing.
From the New York Post:
Several CBS News reporters were caught up in layoffs at Paramount Global that claimed 800 jobs, including one who is embroiled in a high-stakes First Amendment fight — and another who has reportedly weathered HR probes over his workplace behavior, The Post has learned.
Catherine Herridge — an award-winning senior correspondent whose First Amendment case is being closely watched by journalists nationwide — was among the hundreds of employees at CBS parent Paramount who got pink slips on Tuesday, sources told The Post.
The carnage provoked outrage from the rank-and-file at CBS, with some focusing their ire on Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish, who pulled down $32 million in total compensation last year despite the company’s ever-shrinking financial profile.
The specifics of Herridge's firing aren't known, but I'm sure reporting like this didn't please many at CBS News:
Reaching out to WH, House dems and Hunter Biden legal team for comment.
— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) February 12, 2024
BREAKING: Respected American journalist Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) has just been fired by @CBS after her recent reporting, including this. https://t.co/sleNjgmdVu
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) February 13, 2024
Shortly after that, Herridge lost her job.
On the other side of the coin we have CNN's Natasha Bertrand, who is notable in the recent years of "journalism" for this reason:
Bertrand started the “Hunter laptop is Russian disinfo” conspiracy theory created by the Biden campaign right before the election. https://t.co/aBNZaT7P3G pic.twitter.com/GuPaI9QCd3
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 13, 2024
The "Hunter's laptop is Russian disinfo" push from Dems and the media was, ironically, a disinformation campaign. The DNC and Clinton campaign were both fined by the FEC for pushing the Steele Dossier BS but they're still pretending it was real.
Do you know what that kind of "reporting" gets you at CNN (and probably many other outlets)? A promotion:
CNN’s @NatashaBertrand has been promoted to correspondent where she will continue to cover national security and politics across CNN’s platforms. Congratulations, Natasha! https://t.co/vTkxntheoP pic.twitter.com/RPsTzMECKs
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) February 13, 2024
The above post was getting buried so deep by reality checks that CNN turned off the replies. And what'll happen this election season now that CNN's has incentivized spreading "fake news"? Yeah, we're going to get more of it (if it's even possible for them to spread more falsehoods than they already do).
News orgs have laid off hundreds of journos, but CNN is promoting the one who pushed the fake news about Hunter Biden’s laptop and advanced the Russia collusion hoax for years https://t.co/BUn0qusVKF
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) February 13, 2024
There appears to be no consequences for being the Biden campaign’s disinformation scribe. https://t.co/89q67WAoUk pic.twitter.com/zKwnWU7Ukr
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) February 13, 2024
And these same people wonder why trust in the media has gone completely down the drain.
Nobody in corporate media has spread more lies than this individual.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 13, 2024
Among many examples, she was the first to ratify the CIA lie that docs from Hunter’s laptop was “Russian disinformation.”
The more one lies for the US Security State, the more promoted they will be. https://t.co/SU0pTQ8CbX
Bertrand will end up being the president of CNN if she keeps this up.
