Kurtz will anchor a version of the show Fox News Watch. | Evan Agostini/AP Photo Kurtz leaves CNN for Fox

In a big shakeup in the world of media and television, reporter and critic Howard Kurtz is leaving CNN and joining Fox News, the network announced on Thursday.

Kurtz, who hosted CNN’s Reliable Sources, will anchor a weekend media program for Fox News and write a weekly column for FoxNews.com, Fox News executive vice president of news Michael Clemente said in a press release. Kurtz starts his new gig at Fox News on July 1.


The surprise move marks the start of the next phase in the career of one of Washington’s long-running and best-known media reporters, a journalist who was once well regarded but whose star has dimmed as the errors have piled up. Kurtz’s run has been plagued at times by a handful of whopping mistakes, including most recently inaccurately claiming that an NBA player who came out as gay had failed to reveal he had once been engaged.

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While Kurtz has dinged Fox News from time to time for its coverage, including recently on the attack in Benghazi, Libya, he was never part of the pack of Fox haters, and he has maintained an open line of communication with network boss Roger Ailes over the years.

Kurtz will anchor a version of the media show that is now called “Fox News Watch,” Clemente said, which will get 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,” the press release stated. “Meanwhile, Jon Scott, current anchor of Fox News Watch, who won an Emmy for his writing at NBC’s Dateline, will move to the specials unit where he will serve as anchor.”

( Also on POLITICO: Kurtz apologizes on CNN for errors)

Kurtz said he is “excited” to bring his “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,” Kurtz said in a statement. “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.”

Clemente praised Kurtz in the announcement as “the most accomplished media reporter in the country.”

“He’s also a master of social media trends, information good and bad, and a veteran political reporter,” he said. “Altogether, he will add even greater depth to a very accomplished team of reporters and anchors.”

And Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren —who calls Kurtz a friend, but was also the subject of one of his most recent major errors — said the hire was a “big loss for CNN, huge gain for us at Fox News.”

“I have known Howie for 20+ years (we worked together at CNN) and what is Howie’s best quality is that you can have a knock down drag out disagreement with him about cable news (or even about me!) — and he is always willing to listen and to rethink it,” she told POLITICO in an email. “Sometimes he is right, sometimes I am …but in the end we remain friends and I respect him and welcome him.”

Kurtz started hosting Reliable Sources on CNN in 1998. CNN said the program will continue and feature different people guest hosting the show in the coming months. Kurtz will host Reliable Sources for the next two Sundays.

“Howie Kurtz has served as host of Reliable Sources for 15 years, developing it into a leading source for commentary and critique on the media,” CNN said in a statement. “We thank him for all his contributions to CNN, and wish him all the best in this new opportunity. Reliable Sources will continue on CNN, and will be hosted by a variety of people in the coming months.”

In May, Kurtz was dropped by The Daily Beast, where he had served as columnist and Washington bureau chief since leaving The Washington Post in 2010.

The decision came after Kurtz published a blog post inaccurately stating that NBA player James Collins, who announced in a Sports Illustrated piece he was gay, had failed to note he was engaged to a woman. Collins, however, had spoken of the engagement in the article and in a separate interview with ABC News. The Daily Beast retracted the post, and then Tina Brown, the site’s editor in chief, announced they had “parted ways.”

At the time, sources told POLITICO that Kurtz was also let go due to dedicating too much time to other ventures, including The Daily Download, a media criticism site. CNN announced the same week that Reliable Sources was under review, and he was believed to be on shaky ground with the network in the wake of the Collins error.

Kurtz also took to Reliable Sources the weekend after the Collins mistake to apologize for what he called his “inexcusable” post.

“This is not a ritual for me where you just come on camera and say you’re sorry and hope to move on,” he said on the May 5 edition of the show. “I’m truly sorry about what happened. I believe deeply in good journalism and fair journalism, and I am determined to learn from this episode and minimize the chances of anything like this happening again.”

That wasn’t the only major mistake in his media criticism career: In 2010, he claimed to have interviewed Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), when he actually interviewed a spokesperson. It took a whopping three months for him to correct the error. In 2011, he incorrectly attributed a comment to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). And earlier this year, Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren was wrongly described in The Daily Beast as joking about Hillary Clinton’s “immaculate concussion,” when it was actually conservative radio host Laura Ingraham who had used the phrase. The Daily Beast corrected the article and Kurtz wrote an item stating that he edited in the incorrect line about Van Susteren.

Kurtz has knocked Fox’s news coverage on several occasions over the years, but he never emerged as a particularly harsh critic of his new employer — in fact, he has landed several interviews with the typically media-shy Ailes, and has scored exclusive news about the executive.

Still, Kurtz recently took Fox to task over an aspect of one of the network’s most prominent stories this year: Benghazi. In December, for example, he slammed some commentators on Fox for questioning whether then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was faking sick to avoid testifying on the Sept. 11 terror attacks on a U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya.

“People on Fox News said Hillary Clinton had a ‘diplomatic illness,’ as John Bolton put it,” Kurtz said in a December Daily Download video titled ‘Hey Fox, Hillary was Really Sick After All.” He added, “These people on Fox News were making fun of her, they were doubting, she had to get a note from her doctor, and now she has a blood clot…and it wasn’t just one or two people.”

And this spring, he ripped a Fox News decision to allow former White House Press Secretary and current Fox News commentator Dana Perino to interview former President George W. Bush — her old boss.

But Kurtz has also had exclusive access to Ailes over the years: Last fall, he tweeted “Exclusive: Roger Ailes signs 4-year deal with News Corp to run Fox News, Fox Biz, Fox stations, 20th TV. Ink hasn’t dried yet on contract,” and he has also penned a number of stories featuring lengthy interviews with Ailes.

- Katie Glueck contributed to this report.