ZANNINO DEPARTS FROM THE JOURNAL

Dow Jones & Co. CEO Richard Zannino said he was stepping down yesterday in advance of the upcoming completion of News Corp.’s takeover of the company, which publishes The Wall Street Journal.

“While this was my choice, I’m nonetheless saddened by it,” said Zannino in a memo to staffers yesterday.

He is going to be replaced by Les Hinton, a veteran News Corp. hand who was most recently the executive chairman of News International in London, sources say.

Whereas Hinton began his career as a journalist, Zannino, 49, who came from a financial background, was the first non-journalist to head Dow Jones in its history.

Times of London Editor Robert Thomson is expected to take over as publisher of the Journal from Gordon Crovitz.

Zannino had only taken over the top job at Dow Jones from Peter Kann in February 2006.

Zannino said he has been talking about an exit with News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch for the past several months. (News Corp. also owns The Post.)

“Rupert and I have been discussing since September my moving on from the company after the closing,” said Zannino in the memo.

Separately, sources say Rupert’s son James Murdoch, who is currently the CEO of BSkyB, is going to be named Chief Executive, Europe and Asia, for News Corp.