Michele McPhee, Boston's queen bee of crime reporting, is jumping from the Herald to a full-time slot at WTKK. Boston Daily landed the scoop confirming what two of Boston's most reliable mediawatchers, Dan Kennedy of Media Nation and Adam Reilly of the Phoenix, heard.

From Joe Keohane at Boston Daily: "Sources close to McPhee confirm this, and add that she’s taken a full-time gig at WTKK-FM and ditched daily journalism altogether."

What will the Herald be like without Michele McPhee? She could be scandalous, she could be over-the-top--a lot. Bostonist often disagreed with her approach, but she was always a juicy read, and the Herald would lose a lot with her gone.

Reilly agrees and sees trouble ahead for the Herald unless they can come up with McPhee Jr.: "She's kept the paper competitive with the Globe on the cops-and-crime beat despite the Herald's vastly inferior resources." Keohane noted, "She's not exactly someone you can replace quickly."

No kidding. Will you miss her, or will you be glad that the Herald might be dialing it down a notch?

Image of McPhee from EDGE Boston.