Harwood moves to NYT because of Murdoch deal for WSJ

Michael Calderone of Politico writes Tuesday that John Harwood is leaving his gig at The Wall Street Journal for the New York Times because it will allow him to continue appearing long term on CNBC.

If he stayed at the Journal, which is being acquired by News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, he might be asked to appear on Fox Business Network.

Calderone wrote, “Similar to the way Fox News aggressively went after CNN a decade ago, Fox News president Roger Ailes has publicly said that CNBC is the primary target for his upstart business network.

“But, according to Harwood, who counts 16 years at the Journal, there was never any pressure to leave the paper or relinquish his CNBC duties.

“‘I didn’t have to change anything over the short term,’ Harwood said. ‘But if you look forward, it’s not tenable.’

“Harwood, like many of his colleagues, was an early critic of Murdoch’s unsolicited $60-a-share bid for Dow Jones, made public on May 1.”

Read more here.