Major CNN Reporter Ed Henry Quits Network to Join Fox News

NEW YORK (The Blaze/AP) -- CNN White House correspondent Ed Henry is jumping to Fox News Channel.

Fox announced Monday that Henry would become Fox's chief White House correspondent. He had joined CNN in 2004 from the newspaper Roll Call, and he covered the president, Congress and politics for the network.

Fox News executive Michael Clemente says the network has been "impressed with Henry's reporting for a long time."

A spokesperson for CNN told TV Newser, "We thank Ed for his contributions and wish him the best. We will be naming our new chief White House correspondent in the coming days.”

Fox is making other changes. Wendell Goler will become senior White House and foreign affairs correspondent. Mike Emanuel will be chief congressional correspondent and James Rosen will report on how Washington-based news affects the rest of the country.

“So after seven years at CNN it is bittersweet for me to say I’ve landed a terrific opportunity elsewhere that I am absolutely thrilled about,” Henry reportedly wrote in an e-mail to CNN staff. “But first I just want to say thank you for what has been a wild ride for me, from the beginning of my tenure when I was in the anchor chair when Robert Novak walked off-set — right up until the night a few weeks ago I raced from a Capitals playoff hockey game to the White House to report through the night on the killing of Osama bin Laden. I’m still getting grief for the polo shirt I wore on the North Lawn that night but what can I say, I was trying to Rock the Red.”

Henry is the second prominent CNN journalist to jump ship for Fox. In January, CNN morning show host John Roberts joined Fox as a national correspondent.

Below is the press release from Fox announcing the move (via TV Newser):

CNN’S ED HENRY TO JOIN FOX NEWS AS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT

FOX News has signed CNN’s Ed Henry as Chief White House correspondent, announced Michael Clemente, Senior Vice President of News Editorial for the network.  He will be responsible for covering all facets of the White House, including the President’s domestic and international activities.

In making the announcement, Clemente said, “We’ve been impressed with Henry’s reporting for a long time and are proud he’s joining the FOX News team where his tenacity and hard news instincts will continue to strengthen the network’s core journalistic assets.”

FOX News’ Washington bureau will undergo additional changes in coverage beats with Henry assuming his new role, including the following transitions: Wendell Goler has been promoted to Senior White House and Foreign Affairs correspondent where he will take on additional responsibilities covering the State Department;  Mike Emanuel has been named Chief Congressional correspondent providing coverage of the House and Senate, as well as breaking news on Capitol Hill; James Rosen becomes Chief Washington correspondent reporting on major Beltway stories and how they impact the country; and Carl Cameron continues in his role as Chief Political correspondent, covering congressional, gubernatorial, and presidential elections for FOX News.

An award-winning journalist, Henry has covered various beats for CNN since 2004.  Most recently, he served as Senior White House correspondent and received praise for his reporting on the Bush administration’s contradictory assertions regarding senior Iranian officials sending improvised explosive devices to Iraq.  That led him to win the White House Correspondents’ Association’s Merriman Smith Award for excellence in presidential coverage under deadline in 2008.

Prior to reporting on the President and its administration, Henry was a Congressional correspondent where he broke the news that Dubai Ports World would not move forward with its plan to take control over six U.S. ports.  During that time, he received the Everett Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress from the National Press Foundation.  In 2004, Henry reported from the campaign trail throughout CNN’s coverage of the presidential race, focusing on then Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry.

Before his tenure at CNN, Henry was a print journalist at Roll Call for eight years where he served as a senior editor and a columnist.  While at the Capitol Hill newspaper, Henry was also a contributing editor at Washingtonian magazine and a chief political analyst for WMAL-AM, ABC News Radio’s Washington affiliate.  He began his career as an investigative reporter, working alongside renowned journalist Jack Anderson for five years, with stints as a television analyst at C-SPAN and WUSA-TV (CBS).

FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news.  A top five cable network, FNC has been the most watched news channel in the country for nearly ten years and according to Public Policy Polling, is the most trusted television news source in the country. Owned by News Corp., FNC is available in more than 90 million homes and dominates the cable news landscape, routinely notching the top ten programs in the genre.