We are gobsmacked and awestruck! Howard Kurtz, the Washington Post's tireless conventional wisdom-spouting media reporter, is leaving the newspaper to join The Daily Beast as Washington Bureau Chief. We never thought we'd see the day.

We'll even quote a press release upon this momentous occasion:

Tina Brown, editor in chief of The Daily Beast, said, "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. 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."

Howie Kurtz is an amazingly prolific and hardworking media reporter. He is a pretty poor media critic. They must have given him a shitload of Barry Diller's money. At least the WaPo won't have to get made fun of for having its media reporter host a show on CNN (a glaring conflict of interest) any more.

New media, old media, all the same now. Is this basically a guarantee that The Daily Beast is soon to merge with Newsweek? Seems likely. Howie Kurtz just isn't a real internet type of guy.