Steve Waldman's belief paid off today when News Corp. purchased Beliefnet.com, the spirituality-based Web site Waldman founded in 1999 and has run as editor-in-chief since.

In response to an anonymous tip we received, a call to Waldman resulted in a return call from a Fox spokeswoman requesting that this item be held until tomorrow morning to be supplemented by further information. When offered the opportunity to deny the story, the response was "Okay, we're not going to comment."

Beliefnet.com, which boasts over 3.1 million unique visitors a month, won the General Excellence Online Ellie in 2007 this past May, beating out Slate and ESPN.com. On November 12, they launched a beta social networking portal aimed at religious devotees, spiritual leaders, and faith-based groups.

Specifics on the deal to follow...