By Michael Calderone

September 14, 2007 | 9:54 a.m.

While at the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, Tunku Varadarajan was one of Rupert Murdoch's toughest critics—especially regarding News Corp.'s relationship with the Chinese government.

Here's how one anti-Murdoch screed began: "Rupert Murdoch, a master practitioner of the corporate kowtow, has instructed his son James perfectly in the craft of craven submission to the communist regime in China."

So it's strange that when the New York Post reported today that Mr. Varadarajan is leaving the Journal for academia, his criticism of Mr. Murdoch—who also happens to own the Post—wasn’t mentioned.

Last spring, Mr. Varadarajan made the unusual leap from the editorial to the news side of the Journal, as reported in The Observer (second item). At the time, many reporters had qualms about a member of the staunchly conservative editorial page overseeing news coverage. But as Mr. Murdoch's pursuit of the Journal progressed, several of the same reporters began to champion Mr. Varadarajan for his views; his pieces on Mr. Murdoch were circulated widely.

As Mr. Murdoch soon (officially) takes charge of things, it’s not surprising that Mr. Varadarajan is out the door.

Mr. Varadarajan has not returned phone calls or emails, but we’ll update if he does.