The Committee to Protect Journalists stands unequivocally in defense of a free press and in support of Catherine Herridge, a former Fox News reporter, who has been held in civil contempt in Washington, D.C., after declining to reveal sources behind reporting on FBI investigation.
“The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia’s decision to hold Catherine Herridge in contempt for protecting confidential sources undermines a core principle of press freedom,” said Jose Zamora, CPJ’s regional director for the Americas. “Journalists must not be compelled to choose between safeguarding their sources and facing punishment for reporting on matters of public interest.”
A federal judge in 2024 ordered Herridge to pay $800 a day in court fines or reveal her sources for a 2017 report examining the FBI’s investigation of a Chinese American scientist’s alleged ties to foreign military powers. Herridge left Fox News in 2019 after over 20 years at the outlet.
The U.S. Supreme Court
on July 2
denied Herridge’s application to halt the fines. Herridge was first held in contempt by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and an appeals court panel upheld the order.
CPJ has previously supported efforts toward a
federal shield
law to safeguard reporter-source confidentiality and prevent government access to unreported source material. The
Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act (PRESS Ac
t)
, with the support of CPJ and
more than 100 news outlets and press rights organizations
, passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 2023 and 2024 but stalled in the Senate.
