\n<\/p>\n
CBS News returned journalist Catherine Herridge\u2019s files and materials related to her reporting, according to a statement from the Screen Actors Guild\u2010American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).<\/p>\n
\u201cSAG-AFTRA is pleased to confirm that earlier today a representative of our union monitored the return of several boxes containing Catherine Herridge\u2019s reporting materials from her CBS News office in Washington D.C. Herridge is currently reviewing the materials,\u201d SAG-AFTRA said<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe welcome CBS News\u2019 reversal which came after SAG-AFTRA\u2019s intervention and widespread media coverage that underscored shared concerns about press freedom and the First Amendment,\u201d the statement continued. \u201cThe resolution of this matter sends a strong message of protection for basic First Amendment principles. We further hope the public focus now turns to SAG-AFTRA\u2019s continued efforts to support a Press Shield law that provides additional federal protections for journalists and their confidential sources.\u201d<\/p>\n When Herridge\u2019s files were initially seized<\/a> by the network, sources familiar with the matter told\u00a0The New York Post<\/a>\u00a0that the move was \u201cunprecedented\u201d and \u201cextraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey never seize documents\u201d when a reporter is let go, one source said. \u201cThey want to see what damaging documents she has.\u201d<\/p>\n Law professor Jonathan Turley wrote in\u00a0The Hill<\/a>\u00a0that he spoke \u201cconfidentially with current and former CBS employees who have stated that they could not recall the company ever taking such a step before.\u201d<\/p>\n A former CBS manager shared with Turley that he \u201cnever heard of anything like this,\u201d noting that journalists take their files with them upon departure.<\/p>\n