Catherine Herridge Leaves Fox News for CBS News, Company Announces

Catherine Herridge on Sept. 16, 2015. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Catherine Herridge, who was the chief intelligence correspondent for Fox News, is now joining CBS News, according to the network.

“Catherine Herridge is a skilled investigative correspondent who has consistently brought depth and originality to her reporting,” said CBS News Washington bureau chief Christopher Isham in a statement on Thursday. “We are very excited that she will be joining the outstanding team at the Washington Bureau.”

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

She has covered stories in Iraq, Israel, Afghanistan, Ireland, and the former Yugoslavia.

Herridge is leaving Fox just a few weeks after longtime reporter Shepard Smith departed. Smith, however, didn’t join another news outlet.

Jay Wallace, president of Fox News Media, also praised Herridge in a statement.

“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 said, according to Variety.

Herridge, who is a graduate from Columbia University and Harvard, was with Fox News since 1996.

CBS said she will begin her role in November.

Smith Departs

“This is my last newscast here,” Smith said before adding that he was “eternally grateful” to Fox.

Smith, 55, said that he asked Fox to allow him to leave.

“The opportunities afforded this guy from a small town in Mississippi have been many,” he added. “It’s been an honor and a privilege to report the news each day to our loyal audience in context and with perspective.”

Fox News Channel chief news anchor Shepard Smith appears on the set of "Shepard Smith Reporting" in New York on Jan. 30, 2017. Richard Drew/AP

He added: “I’ve worked with the most talented, dedicated and focused professionals I know and I’m proud to have anchored their work each day—I will deeply miss them.”

Fox News chief Jay Wallace, who was once Smith’s producer, also gave a statement: “Shep is one of the premier newscasters of his generation and his extraordinary body of work is among the finest journalism in the industry. His integrity and outstanding reporting from the field helped put Fox News on the map and there is simply no better breaking news anchor who has the ability to transport a viewer to a place of conflict, tragedy, despair or elation through his masterful delivery.”

Wallace continued: “We are proud of the signature reporting and anchoring style he honed at Fox News, along with everything he accomplished here during his monumental 23-year tenure. While this day is especially difficult as his former producer, we respect his decision and are deeply grateful for his immense contributions to the entire network.”