Podcast Summary: "Catherine Herridge on the Future of Journalism"

Podcast: The Radio Free Hillsdale Hour
Host: Scott Bertram
Guest: Catherine Herridge (Emmy Award-winning Investigative Journalist)
Date: October 17, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Catherine Herridge, renowned investigative journalist, about the current and future state of journalism, particularly in the national security and intelligence space. Drawing from her decades-long career across legacy and independent media, Herridge offers keen insights on issues of trust, digital transformation, source protection, and the ethics of reporting. The conversation covers the erosion of media credibility, newsroom practices, the rise of independent journalism, and the challenges and opportunities presented by digital platforms and AI.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Post-9/11 Journalism and Its Decline in Accountability

• Turning Point in Reporting: Herridge describes 9/11 as both a personal and professional turning point. Afterwards, the sense of national unity led journalists to become hesitant in holding authorities accountable.
  • Quote [01:56]:
    “I just believe that 9/11... began a very dangerous slide for national security reporting. ...It just seemed difficult for journalists to demand accountability from then the Bush administration. There was always that risk that if you press them, you would be labeled unpatriotic. ...I think some journalists lost their way into really pressing people in authority for explanations about the decisions that were being made.”
    — Catherine Herridge

2. Importance of Subject Expertise in Reporting (The Clinton Email Story)

• Intersection of Politics and National Security: Political reporters covering national security issues often lacked crucial context and knowledge, making them vulnerable to misleading narrative from political operatives.
  • Quote [03:13]:
    “If you work in national security and intelligence... you know that the classified markings don't matter. The intelligence is born classified from the moment the originating agency obtains that information. ...That's an entirely made up term. If you're a political campaign reporter, you're not going to have that depth of knowledge.”
    — Catherine Herridge

3. Curiosity: The Essential Quality for Journalists

• Declining Curiosity: Herridge cites newsroom pressures, time constraints, and alignment with corporate or personal biases as factors stifling deep curiosity among journalists.
  • Quote [05:10]:
    “If they've got a story and it's very consistent with the corporate position of their newsroom, they don't really want to dig all that much further. ...It depends on the circumstance.”
    — Catherine Herridge

4. Independence and Investigative Methods

• Validation and Impact: Herridge’s independent work focuses on stories with substantial impact and thorough validation processes, especially whistleblower claims.
  • Quote [06:08]:
    “If you see one of my investigations on X, you should have total confidence that the information you're seeing has been independently validated. ...That level of research, of validation, lends a whole new level of credibility to the type of work that I'm doing.”
    — Catherine Herridge

5. Source Trust and Authenticity

• Building Trust Over Time: Identity, personal history, and authenticity build long-lasting trust, crucial for securing sensitive sources.
  • Quote [09:06]:
    “I've really gone to the mat for some of these whistleblowers. I've taken a lot of risks to tell their story. ...I think I just bring...an authenticity that may be missing in other reporting. I'm in a military family. ...there really is a very personal level as well.”
    — Catherine Herridge

6. Protecting Sources and Files in a Digital Age

• Seizure of Files by CBS: Herridge recounts CBS’ seizure of her files following termination and its implications for journalistic trust and source protection.
  • Quote [11:47]:
    “When the network of Walter Cronkite seizes your reporting files, it is an attack on investigative journalism. I called it a journalistic rape. That's very strong language. ...such a breach of trust between a journalist and their news organization.”
    — Catherine Herridge
• Broader Repercussions: Pending litigation could set precedent for source protection nationwide.
  • Quote [12:59]:
    “Whatever is decided in this case is going to determine how every journalist in the United States can or cannot protect confidential sources. ...If you don't have a credible pledge of confidentiality to your sources, your investigative toolbox is empty.”
    — Catherine Herridge

7. Editorial Practices in Legacy Media

• Transparency Issues: Criticism of CBS and “60 Minutes” for editing practices perceived as protecting certain politicians and shaping narratives.
  • Quote [14:01]:
    “I think they took an interview which was sort of a mediocre interview, and they made it seem very presidential. And I think that is a foul, a journalistic foul. ...You really should show your work and stand behind the edit. And one of the ways to do that is to fully release the transcripts of the interview.”
    — Catherine Herridge

8. Reactions to Heavy-Handed Editing

• Mandated Unedited Broadcasts: Critique of Face the Nation’s policy to air interviews unedited as an overreaction to previous editing controversies.
  • Quote [16:57]:
    “You edit for clarity and brevity to fit time constraints...the way that you show transparency is...release the entire interview online and the entire transcript. ...I felt the decision was really an overreaction and pretty defeating for that broadcast.”
    — Catherine Herridge

9. Rise of Independent Journalism and Digital Platforms

• Personal Branding & Reach: Explains her move to independence and the power of direct-to-platform publishing, highlighting the Rubio interview's massive viewership.
  • Quote [19:32]:
    “One of the arguments I've always made is that...more people will access that information on a platform like X or on YouTube than they ever will on broadcast television. ...That interview with Secretary Rubio...stands at nearly 10 million engagements or views right now. This is larger than any major network broadcast. Plus, it's a global audience… it’s a much younger audience than what you have on traditional linear television.”
    — Catherine Herridge

10. Media Trust and the Next Generation

• Erosion of Trust: Herridge acknowledges plummeting public trust in media and predicts growth in small digital newsrooms, newsroom consortiums, and independent journalists.
  • Quote [21:24]:
    “We're in the middle of an industrial revolution now in the media marketplace...the person who controls the information really has the ultimate power. I think the future is smaller digital newsrooms...journalists of the future are the journalists who really can move between the platforms.”
    — Catherine Herridge

11. Personality Over Platform

• Viewers Trust Individuals over Networks: The era of trusting networks is shifting to one where personal journalistic brands matter more.
  • Quote [24:23]:
    “I think I'm a case study in that...people would say to me, you know, I don't normally watch CBS News, but I would watch your stories on CBS News or I would find you on a platform because I trust your work or I trust those investigations.”
    — Catherine Herridge

12. Defining New Challenges: AI, Deepfakes, National Security

• AI in Journalism and National Security: Urges journalists to understand AI’s implications, drawing sharp ethical lines around its use in reporting. Highlights the looming issue of autonomous decision-making in military systems.
  • Quote [26:15]:
    “I need to understand how [AI is] going to change not only my work as a journalist...In the national security space, we have to understand that there are different standards between us and our adversaries.”
    — Catherine Herridge
• Deepfakes & Verification: Stresses the escalating difficulty of information verification and the increased importance of reliable, vetted news sources.
  • Quote [27:55]:
    “You have to be so suspect of everything you encounter online...That’s why the credibility of individual journalists or the credibility of these digital newsrooms really comes into play...”
    — Catherine Herridge

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

"I called it a journalistic rape. That's very strong language. But it was such a breach of trust between a journalist and their news organization."
— Catherine Herridge, on CBS seizing her files [11:47]

"If you're an investigator and you don't have a credible pledge of confidentiality to your sources, your investigative toolbox is empty."
— Catherine Herridge [12:59]

"You really should show your work and stand behind the edit. And one of the ways to do that is to fully release the transcripts of the interview."
— Catherine Herridge [15:53]

"The power is in the integrity and the authenticity of individual brands."
— Catherine Herridge [24:23]

"On the platforms you're able to follow people who you think are credible sources...they believe you. They know that she… she's not a reporter, she's just reading copies someone gave her."
— Catherine Herridge, recounting a conversation with her son [25:29]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:56] – Post-9/11 journalistic accountability
• [03:13] – Clinton email reporting and lack of expertise
• [05:10] – On curiosity in journalism today
• [06:08] – Independent journalism and stringent validation
• [09:06] – Building trust with sources
• [11:47] – CBS's file seizure and source protection
• [14:01] – Editing controversies at CBS/“60 Minutes”
• [16:57] – Face the Nation’s unedited policy critique
• [19:32] – Independent reach and the Rubio interview
• [21:24] – Erosion of media trust and the path forward
• [24:23] – Viewers trusting journalists over networks
• [26:15] – AI, deepfakes, and the future of national security reporting

Final Reflections

Catherine Herridge’s conversation is an urgent examination of journalism’s crossroads. She advocates for relentless curiosity, subject matter expertise, unwavering integrity, and the necessity of personal brand trust. As digital threats to information fidelity grow, and legacy institutions grapple with relevancy, Herridge’s evolution from network anchor to independent journalist—her embrace of new platforms, protection of sources, and insistence on transparency—characterizes a path forward for journalism in a rapidly changing era.