‘The Daily’ is Murdoch’s ‘No. 1 most exciting project’

On Tuesday, The Cutline's Michael Calderone and I wrote about News Corp.'s rapidly evolving plans for a national "newspaper" that will be available exclusively on the iPad and other tablet devices.

Details remain scarce, beyond some staffers' names and how much money News Corp. is pumping into the venture. Indeed, the most crucial detail of all -- when this thing will actually launch -- has yet to be confirmed. But the facts that the Daily's masthead is quickly filling up with high-profile bylines, and that sources tell us editors have been reaching out to freelancers for pitches, seem to suggest it may come to life sooner rather than later.

And then there's this: During an interview Tuesday on News Corp.'s Fox Business Network, anchor Liz Claman asked News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch what his "No. 1 most exciting project is right now."

Murdoch's answer?

"Certainly the Daily," he said (though he explained that it was neck-and-neck with News Corp.'s plans to dive into the education industry under the guidance of former New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein).

Unless we missed something, this appears to be the first time Murdoch has publicly acknowledged the Daily. But as we noted Tuesday, Murdoch hasn't shied from articulating his strong feelings about the iPad and the role he expects it to play in digital publishing. It's a "game-changer," he said on an earnings call in August, around the same time the first rumblings of his planned tablet newspaper were reported by the Los Angeles Times.

You can watch the full Fox Business Network clip here.