Looks like Matthew Felling, the editor of the network’s ombudsman column, Public Eye, was among the casualties of Friday's CBSNews.com cuts.

With Felling gone, the column’s former editor, Brian Montopoli, filled in and wrote a post for Public Eye today.

In October, Romenesko called out Public Eye for ignoring the compromised Lynne Cheney story on CBS Sunday Morning.

With job cuts and a hiring freeze at CBS News, the transparency initiative at CBS could be over.

Update: Matthew Felling was let go.

It's always a bad sign for an ombudsman site when Romenesko letters start offering story ideas. When Brian Montopoli left, Public Eye lost more than its good looks.

Media hottie Brian Montopoli stepped down from Public Eye today. He will now be a political reporter CBSNews.com. We sat down with our favorite ex-pundit to talk about CBS, Romenesko and his good looks.

Why did you decide to leave Public Eye?
I’ve been there two years, first as a writer and then editor. And before that I was doing a similar job at CJR. You just get a bit tired of doing the same beat after a while. Plus I’m really excited about the chance to do some good, old-fashioned political reporting.

How has the media landscape changed since you started working as a media pundit?
That question requires a 10,000 word answer which would probably bore the hell out of you. The short, still-probably-kinda-boring answer is that even as things have become more diffuse, the big media players like the New York Times have learned to adapt better than most people expected.

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Hey, Brian Montopoli? We could stare into your eyes all day, you sexy beast, but in the meantime we'd love to hear CBS' Public Eye's opinion regarding Dick Jefferson's discrimination lawsuit. Especially how the climate over there might differ from things last year, when the blog ran this line: "First off, it should be said that nobody to my knowledge is accusing CBS News of acting in an uncaring way toward these two employees." Funny how things change when the lawyers get involved.

We spend so much of our breath discussing Katie Couric and her ratings woes — why not let the insiders at CBS have their turn?

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