Earlier today, Howard Kurtz announced his plans to move from The Washington Post, where has been a media columnist, to The Daily Beast, where he will head the online site’s fledgling Washington bureau.
In an interview with NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly, he said that “it’s a very difficult decision for me, because I essentially grew up at The Washington Post.”
I have printer’s ink in my veins. I always thought I would be a newspaper man. But we’re all sort of hurtling into the digital future, and the opportunity at The Daily Beast, to help shape what is essentially a two-year-old startup site, and to expand the Washington presence, was too tempting to pass up.
In his new role, Kurtz will have an opportunity “to paint on a broader canvas,” he said. While he recruits new staff members, he will also write more about politics.
Asked what his departure might say about the health of The Post, Kurtz said he thinks the newspaper will be around for “a long, long time.”
It’s not a commentary on the future of The Washington Post. It’s more of a career decision about what kind of space I want to operate in, and choosing to become a part of an interesting and a challenging future.
