Howard Kurtz Leaves Washington Post for Tina Brown's Daily Beast

Stop the presses!

Howard Kurtz (left), arguably the most influential media reporter in the country, is leaving The Washington Post (WPO) for Tina Brown's (right) Daily Beast website in the latest high-profile defection from old media titan to new media upstart.

Kurtz, a 29-year veteran of The Post, will become the Daily Beast's Washington bureau chief, according to a statement from the Barry Diller-backed new media company, and will "write regularly on politics, media, and the intersection of the two."

Kurtz is just the most recent prominent journalist to leave a major newspaper for a new media website. Two weeks ago, Peter Goodman, The New York Times's superstar national economics reporter -- and a Reed College graduate -- announced he would join The Huffington Post. Newsweek's Howard Fineman is also joining The Huffington Post.

For Brown, a former editor of The New Yorker magazine, Kurtz's hiring is a major coup.

"I have great respect for Howard as a journalist and newsbreaker, but I admire him most of all for his understanding of media and politics as the story of our era," said Brown. "He is that rare reporter with a metabolism that outpaces the frenetic subjects he covers. I am excited that he will be a driving force in The Daily Beast's coverage of this upcoming midterm election and for many election cycles to come."

Kurtz, who is known as a tireless reporter, will continue to host the weekly CNN media program Reliable Sources.

"I've wanted to work with Tina Brown forever -- well, for a long time -- and I'm incredibly impressed by the energy and creativity of The Daily Beast staff," said Kurtz. "After a lifetime in newspapers, I'm ready for the challenge of fast-paced online journalism."

Daily Beast Executive Editor Edward Felsenthal said: "Howard is a top-tier news-breaker and reporter who, even in print, operates at an Internet pace. He brings to The Daily Beast a fabulous range that spans from the White House to Jon Stewart and George Clooney."