New York Magazine's Noreen Malone, a former Slate contributor, reports:

Jack Shafer, Slate's very recently laid-off media critic, is moving to Reuters, according to a source familiar with the matter. The deep-pocketed news service, which under the digital leadership of Chrystia Freeland has been on a hiring spree, began talking to Shafer in June, well before the surprise Slate layoff. No wonder Shafer's post-layoff interviews were so jovial.

The news broke shortly after several people cheered on the idea that The New York Times hire Shafer as their public editor. According to Malone, Shafer's new gig will be a lot like his old gig at Slate.

Update: Shafer confirmed his new gig on Twitter: "Steve Adler, Chrystia Freeland, Jim Impoco and James Ledbetter have interrupted my plans to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, and criticize after dinner with an offer--which I've accepted--to write about media and politics for Reuters. I'm damn happy. Thanks, oh, my tweeps."

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Adam Clark Estes