Howard Kurtz Takes His 'Independent' Media Criticism to a New Home at Fox

Howard Kurtz is moving to Fox News, a few weeks after his inaccurate post slamming openly gay pro basketball player Jason Collins for not disclosing his closeted past led to his departure from The Daily Beast. This makes sense for a couple reasons: First, over the last few years Kurtz has gotten a series of exclusive interviews with Fox chief Roger Ailes, who infrequently talks to reporters. Second, Kurtz has become an unlikely hero among some conservatives for criticizing supposedly liberal things, like Jason Collins and the Kermit Gosnell case. Kurtz will host a show called Fox News Watch starting July 1, and will write a regular column for FoxNews.com plus offer commentary on other shows.

RELATED: The Case of the Disappearing Pelosi Quote

Kurtz currently hosts the media criticism show Reliable Sources on CNN on Sundays. At his former Daily Beast gig, Kurtz got a series of largely flattering scoops about Ailes — that Ailes had asked Glenn Beck "What the hell are you doing, man?" in 2010, that Ailes was repositioning Fox to be more moderate in 2011, that Ailes signed a four-year deal to stay at Fox in late 2012, that he picked Zev Chafets to be his biographer because he's "mature and thoughtful and not out to hurt people" in 2013.

RELATED: Darrell Issa Doesn't Believe His Ex-Spokesman Impersonated Him

Mediaite's Andrew Kirell reported Kurtz's move to Fox on Thursday, and The New York Times's Brian Stelter confirmed it. Fox then issued a press release, which quotes Kurtz saying, "I'm excited to be bringing my independent brand of media criticism to Fox News. I want to thank CNN for giving me such a prime opportunity over the years and was tempted to continue, but the chance to create a revamped program and establish a strong online presence was too good to pass up. I hope to add a new dimension to Fox's coverage and have some fun while diving into the passionate debates about the press and politics."