Once upon a time he was considered a serious journalist but when he walked off the CNN set in a burst of ire Robert Novak actually jumped the shark — morphing into baggage so heavy that TSA wants to find him…and inspect him.
I say this with a great degree of sadness. And not because of what Novak has written over the years, but because of an experience I had with him as a college student many years ago (see below).
Novak has become kind of symbolic for what has happened to journalism in the late 20th century and continuing into the early 21st century where personality dominated journalism overcame its “yellow journalism” phase and journalism became a bit more serious after World War II — but then began to compete with tabloids and talk radio. Many top journalists soon found that if their PERSONALITIES attracted viewers, they could have futures (and fatter bank accounts) by diversifying into broadcasting (radio, TV, cable).
Novak was considered a serious columnist in the 60s. Then gradually he expanded, getting to television and eventually creating The Capital Gang. He became known as the Prince of Darkness on those shows where panels of journalists/commentators with clashing opinions give those, grating highly obnoxious little smirks as they needle each other. It’s gentle teasing in The Elite Club.
So you’d think Novak could stand the needling he got from Democrat James Carville. After all, he’s gotten it from liberals and moderates a zillion times before.But in case you were on Mars and missed it, here’s what happened courtesy of the Chicago Sun-Times:
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak swore and then stormed off the set of CNN’s “Inside Politics” Thursday, prompting CNN to suspend him indefinitely.
The suspension comes after prolonged pressure on Novak, who is at the center of a federal probe into the leaking of a CIA officer’s identity. Novak erupted while he and commentator James Carville were discussing a U.S. Senate campaign in Florida. After the columnist walked off the set, CNN correspondent Ed Henry said he had planned to ask Novak about his role in the investigation.
“Bob Novak’s behavior on CNN today was inexcusable and unacceptable. Mr. Novak has apologized to CNN, and CNN apologizes to its viewers for his language and actions. We’ve asked Mr Novak to take some time off,” said CNN spokeswoman Edie Emery.
Novak did not return messages left Thursday evening.
Of course Novak later apologized, but that wasn’t the point:
- No one is irreplaceable, especially in broadcasting. If Novak was snatched by space aliens tomorrow who whisked him off the face of the earth, CNN could find a news personality to replace him.
- Dan Rather never recovered from the incident where he walked off a set. It was the beginning of the end of his reputation.
- Novak has been a big pain for CNN in recent months and the network has steadfastly stood by him. His payback? He walked off the set.
The Chicago Tribune notes:
And, as far as CNN is concerned, he might as well have kept walking for a while.
The network has stood steadfastly by Novak through the controversy he sparked with a 2003 column that identified a CIA operative by name. The probe into the secret sources of that information led to the jailing of New York Times reporter Judith Miller for refusing to testify.
It’s not known whether Novak has testified or refused because he won’t say…..
Already this year, CNN has axed Novak’s “The Capital Gang” and “Crossfire.” But CNN has expected him to be a regular contributor to “The Situation Room.” There’s no word yet on whether that now will change.
The Trib notes that Novak has been defended by CNN bigwigs. So perhaps he’ll be invited back — but, if so, it’ll never be the same.
Why? Because Novak is now irrevocably damaged journalist goods.
Between the Plame controversy and walking off the set he won’t be considered to be a serious, heads-down-and-produce-the-story reporter or columnist by many anymore.
He WILL be considered a personality — a tempestuous one. He has gone from the Prince of Darkness to the Prince of Caffeine.
So why does this make me sad?
In 1971 there were anti-war protests in Washington. I had supported the war in Vietnam until Nixon invaded Cambodia and it became clear he did not have a “secret plan” to end the war. I went on my first and only anti-war demonstration (I have been all over the place politically for years to get to where I am today where I don’t belong to either party)– and it was an unusual one, to say the least. But rather than go the actual demonstration, I went my own way (as usual) and a friend and I visited and talked to some Congressmen and then walked into a Washington press office building.
I was a Colgate University student. And Colgate students down there during this demonstration weekend had gotten a lot of publicity for a special demonstration: they were demanding that U.S. Secretary of State William Rodgers resign from the Colgate Board of Trustees or resign as Secretary of State.Colgate students were picketing the State Department.
When we got near the press building who should walk out but a (younger) Robert Novak. Being a news junkie even in those days, I immediately recognized him and struck up a conversation. He was very happy to talk with some young people. Then he heard we were from Colgate.
“You guys are from COLGATE?” he asked, his eyes widening. We said yes.
“That’s the dumbest demonstration I’ve ever heard!” he said.
He proceeded to discuss with us the demonstration and other things for some 15 minutes. He was warm. He made sense. He truly enjoyed talking politics. He truly enjoyed talking to people who didn’t agree with him. And not once did he talk down to these two students wandering around Washington. He looked right at us and engaged in a friendly talk. He gave us a lesson on how to discuss issues with young people and how to encourage them to stay involved and think.
Some months ago I met a woman who said her daughter worked had worked on Crossfire — and her report about Novak was the same. Nice things.
So, on a personal note, it’s a bit sad to see someone cross the line from being a serious columnist to a controversial columnist — and now to a TV personality who can’t keep his cool and walks off the set. Is walking off the set a big deal? It’s only the most unprofessional thing a newsperson or actor can do.
Our prediction: if he returns, Novak will be on thin ice or won’t be at CNN within 18 months. And if he has a retirement date, it’ll be sped up a bit.
Some folks will make excuses for Novak, but just think about it: how many young journalists, young opinion-makers, bloggers of all ages, and columnists would give their left arm to be on CNN?
Would they walk off the set for any reason?
At the best, it shows strain; at the worst, an amazing sense of confidence that there are no consequences for his actions….which may be why Novak is at the center of the Plame case to begin with.
SOME OTHER MEDIA REACTION TO BOB NOVAK’S BIG HIKE:
—EOnline: “You might expect this kind of language from Mötley Crüe on live television, but surely not Robert Novak. In fact, of all the people one could expect to drop an “s-bomb” during a live broadcast, the stodgy columnist does not rank high on the list.”
—Bayou Buzz:
The embarrassing episode caps a pretty bad summer for Novak. His shows “Capital Gang” and “Crossfire” have been canceled. He has a leading role in the controversial Valerie Plame case, being the first journalist to reveal her name in a column. Journalists keep asking Novak about his involvement in the case and to answer some important questions….
Novak is keeping his mouth shut, at least in the Plame case, but he couldn´t on “Inside Politics.” During the show yesterday, host Ed Henry announced that he was going to ask Novak about the Plame investigation. Possibly, Novak created the firestorm to give himself a legitimate excuse to leave the set early and avoid the questions. Regardless, the episode tarnishes Novak´s reputation and was unprofessional to say the least.
—The Conservative Voice:”Robert Novak was an easy target for CNN, he is a journalist with integrity who holds conservative core values and has an incredible intellect. Because Mr. Novak refused to dumb down to permit liberals arrayed against him to prevail, they had to let him go. Of course they had the “S” word to blame it on. How shocking!”
—Buzzflash Report:”Let’s all please stop now — just like I just did — to write to CNN over and over to say NO MORE NOVAK!!!!! Bullies like him were sent to Detention in school, or expelled, not sent to the front of the class for all to see and be rewarded for their cute, smug, mean, arrogance, which CNN does to Novak.”
–Crooks And Liars thinks a video it posted earlier helped freak Novak out and it posts it here. Also, it posts a remix with music of the Novak walkoff.
—La Shawn Barber:”The profanity of profanity. Well, it would take a lot more than Carville’s smart mouth to make me to “lose my religionâ€? on TV, but a man’s got to do what he’s got to do. Perhaps there’s more to the story, but that’s all I got.”
–Journalism professor and blogger Jay Rosen has a MUST READ IN FULL. Here is just a small taste of an extensive and insightful analysis:
It seemed to me, as a viewer, that Novak was in an impossible position every time he went on the air to talk politics. If he met his duty to himself (by not speaking up while the Plame case was open) then he could not meet his duty to his peers and his profession….
When Novak said to Henry “you don’t know anything about the case…� he was disparaging CNN journalism—and a professional peer—on the air, something you do not normally see. (Why CNN permitted it is beyond me.) If he simply wanted to make reference to all that is publicly unknown about the case he could have said, “Ed, there’s a lot that hasn’t come out…�
But there was a different message: Ed, you’re pulling questions out of your ass because you don’t know a damn thing. So do us all a favor and shut up. In fact, the biggest barrier to Henry knowing more was, of course, Novak himself: “I can’t answer any questions about this case at all.�
Novak knew that dodging his colleague was no longer going to work. He solved a problem for himself, and for CNN with his theatre of phony rage.
—Dean Esmay has an interesting take on all of this an an equally interesting prediction:
It may be that the veteran news man, after over a year of being attacked for what he (probably) believes is nothing, having started life as a real journalist, probably suddenly realized that the entire “conservative vs. liberal” “left vs. right” format of television political discussions is tawdry, anti-intellectual, and stupid. In other words, maybe he suddenly realized just how dumb that game is…..
Here’s my bet: if Novak does reappear on TV, if I’m reading him right, he’ll suddenly be very reluctant to appear as “On the right: Bob Novak.”We’ll see if I’m right, but I’ll bet I am. The whole “left vs. right” dialectic is getting stale for most people. At least, I hope it is.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.