From 'Spin Cycle' to Washed Up: Howard Kurtz Joins Fox News Watch

Howard Kurtz, former long-time Washington Post media critic and current host of CNN's Reliable Sources, will anchor Fox News Watch beginning July 1 and will also serve as an on-air analyst and online columnist for Fox News, Mediaite.com reports.

The 59-year-old Brooklyn native has not had the best of years. Reportedly, CNN had no plans to renew Kurtz's contract. Last month, Kurtz was dumped by The Daily Beast ("TDB") for whom he was Washington bureau chief, because of his error-laden reporting about NBA player Jason Collins coming out as gay and because of what TDB perceived was his excessive time commitment to an outside venture, The Daily Download.

Kurtz, a one-time fave of "TUOL," is the author of The Fortune Tellers, Spin Cycle, Media Circus and Hot Air, the latter of which focuses on right-leaning talk radio. Now Fox News chief Roger Ailes, whom Kurtz has interviewed on numerous occasions, is his boss.

It remains to be seen whether Kurtz will be able to ply what he considers his stock and trade--independent media criticism--for Fox.