Good News at Fox News Channel

I was curious last night, while watching the roundtable discussing the Saddleback forum on Fox News Channel, when I noticed that reporter Bill Sammon was identified onscreen as the "FMR" Senior White House Correspondent for the Washington Examiner. Sammon is one of my longtime favorite pundit-reporters, so I was curious about the "former" designation.

The mystery appears to have been cleared up this morning when Sammon, sitting in for the vacationing Brit Hume on Fox News Sunday, was introduced by Chris Wallace as "Deputy Washington Managing Editor of Fox News."

I actually rewound the DVR to make sure I'd heard correctly, then checked online listings where, sure enough, Sammon was identified by the same title. What marvelous news!

I think Sammon is terrific; his book AT ANY COST is the single best book about the 2000 election, and he's written a series of interesting books on the Bush White House. His appearances on the Special Report roundtable are always interesting.

It certainly appears Sammon is in line to take over Washington Managing Editor Brit Hume's role when Brit semi-retires after the election. I hadn't really thought outside current Fox News employees as possibilities to replace Brit, and Bill strikes me as the perfect choice. He's an excellent reporter who, like Brit, can key in on stories overlooked by the rest of the media, and he also has a congenial personality.

I wonder if he will be taking over as host of SPECIAL REPORT?

I found a bit more news at Politico: Brian Wilson has stepped down from acting as FNC's Washington Bureau Chief and is returning to reporting and anchoring. Sammon's role as Deputy Managing Editor was identified as "a new role in the bureau."

Good news indeed.

I'll be watching for further details.