Richard Johnson Leaves Page Six

An already huge week for media news just got bigger: Richard Johnson, legendary editor of the New York Post's Page Six, is leaving for parent company News Corp.'s "digital ventures" in Los Angeles. Johnson, who has edited the country's most influential gossip column for nearly 25 years, was rumored earlier to be quitting the Post for The Hollywood Reporter but was said to be hemmed in by his contract. Politico's Ben Smith calls his departure "another blow to print media reeling this month from high-profile departures for new media," coming on the heels of The Daily Beast's hire of Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz. The Village Voice's Foster Kamer, meanwhile, says "the bottom line is this: The once-mighty reign of Page Six is now, categorically, finally finished. An era of gossip in New York is over." He also notes that Page Six will now have an all-female staff: Emily Smith, who's been on the job less than a year, will take over from Johnson.