This news should come as no surprise to anyone who has spent much time listening to Howard Kurtz and his CNN show on the media.
FOX News Channel (FNC) has hired veteran media reporter Howard Kurtz, announced Michael Clemente, Executive Vice President of News for the network. He will begin in this new role on July 1st.
Kurtz will anchor a version of what is now called Fox News Watch, which focuses on the media, with a new format during the weekends. Additionally, he will serve as an on-air analyst for a variety of programs throughout the week, while also writing a regular column on FoxNews.com, commenting on social media news, industry trends and breakthroughs, in addition to looking at how media are used in politics.
Kurtz is the poster boy of Washington news media insider culture, whose career was on a downward trajectory.
The move, which surprised most media watchers, is the culmination of a rapid transformation in Kurtz's career over the past few months. He was previously the Washington bureau chief for Newsweek and The Daily Beast, and had "Reliable Sources" for years on CNN. But then The Daily Beast fired him after last month after a hugely embarrassing editorial error and concerns over the amount of time he was spending on an outside venture, Daily Download.
He was then forced to publicly apologize for his errors and to endure a lengthy grilling on his own CNN show. Fox News, it seems, will be a more welcoming environment.
CNN should send a fruit basket to Roger Ailes for taking Kurtz off their hands. Fox is where this tool belongs.