Veteran intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge leaving Fox News

(Fox News video screenshot)

Longtime Fox News chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge is leaving the network to join CBS News as a senior investigative reporter.

“Veteran journalist Catherine Herridge is joining CBS News as a Senior Investigative Correspondent based in Washington D.C.,” her new employer confirmed in a press release shared early Thursday morning. “In her new role at CBS News, which begins in November, she will report original investigations and cover national security and intelligence matters that impact the country.”

“CBS News has always placed a premium on enterprise journalism and powerful investigations,” she herself said in a statement to CBS. “I feel privileged to join a team where facts and storytelling will always matter.”

It’s not clear whether the statement was meant as a jab at Fox. It almost seemed as if she was suggesting that FNC doesn’t place “a premium on enterprise journalism and powerful investigations” and doesn’t think “facts and storytelling … always matter.”

While this may seem conspiratorial, keep in mind that her departure comes only three weeks after her former Fox colleague, known liberal folk hero Shepard Smith, announced his abrupt resignation from the network. Note also that just like Smith, Herridge had been with Fox since its launch in 1996.

However, the two didn’t always get along. There were several instances where they butted heads over Herridge’s willingness to cover news stories that he as a liberal believed were irrelevant. One instance happened just last December.

Her announcement likewise comes only days after Herridge won a Tex McCrary Award for excellence in journalism from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

In another statement — this one issued to Mediaite — the former Fox correspondent expressed gratitude to Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch for the opportunity to work at FNC.

“I am grateful to Mr. Murdoch for the opportunity to cover the most impactful stories of the last 23 years, most recently the Special Counsel report and impeachment inquiry,” she said. “I have received great personal satisfaction from mentoring the next generation of reporters and producers and sharing my journalistic values — that facts matter and enterprise reporting will always win the day.”

Jay Wallace, the president of Fox News Media, responded with his own statement praising Herridge’s decades of intrepid reporting.

“As a founding employee, over the last 23 years, Catherine Herridge has been an asset to FOX News,” he said. “From her breaking news headlines at the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to her reporting after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the investigation into Princess Diana’s death, she has always been at the forefront of every beat she has covered.”

“We are grateful for Catherine’s many contributions to the network, wish her continued success and were proud to honor her as she received the Tex McCrary Award for Journalism last week from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society for her enterprise reporting at FOX News,” Wallace added.

But whereas Smith’s resignation prompted cheers, applause and mockery from Fox’s base, Herridge’s departure has only provoked sadness and disappointment, as it appears she’d been widely respected by the network’s mainly conservative audience — and not only for her quality reporting but also for her politeness and decency:

Case in point:

Note their disinterest in switching to CBS News so that they can keep hearing her reporting. Ever since the network threw award-winning journalist Lara Logan under the bus for a report she wrote on the Benghazi scandal, the network has leaned decidedly to the left.

What remains unclear is whether her departure will be immediate, or whether she’ll be sticking around for a few more weeks. It’s also unclear how FNC will fare without her. Some leftists have speculated that, coupled with Smith’s resignation, this will hasten Fox’s alleged downfall …

Except that the network continues to dominate in ratings — and without the assistance of America’s many, many, many airports.

As for Herridge’s legacy, she’ll likely best be remembered for being the papers lady:

Not that there’s anything wrong with being the papers lady.

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Vivek Saxena

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