Career newspaperman John Cruickshank is to bolt from the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. as publisher of CBC News to become publisher of the Toronto Star, effective Jan. 1.

Cruickshank joined the CBC in September 2007 to turn its English-language TV, radio and online news-gathering operations into a 360-degree experience.

‘John has made a significant contribution to CBC News as it has continued its process of evolution and renewal into a fully integrated, multi-platform national news organization,’ Richard Stursberg, EVP of English services at the CBC, said.

Jennifer McGuire, executive director of news programming, will step in as interim publisher at CBC News until Cruickshank’s replacement is found.

Cruickshank last year replaced former CBC News editor-in-chief Tony Burman, who left the public broadcaster in summer 2007 to join Al-Jazeera as managing director of its English-language news service.

‘I grew up in this town and I grew up with the Star,’ Cruickshank said in a statement.

Before joining the CBC, Cruickshank was publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times and CEO of the Chicago-based Sun-Times Media Group.

His CBC tenure has not been without drama. Last September, Cruickshank had to publicly apologize for a cbcnews.ca column by Heather Mallick about Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.