Journalist prof/blogger Jay Rosen has this FASCINATING tidbit on his blog that suggests Bob Novak was poised to walk-off the CNN set as soon as the Plame/Rove case was mentioned — and that Novak had become quite thin-skinned about it.
It came to Rosen (who has one a MUST READ site for those interested in media issues) in the form of an email from Scott Heiser, a reporter/intern for the Financial Times. We’ll give it to you in full here — but make sure you read Rosen’s whole piece on Novak:
He was there for the FT Wednesday when Novak spoke to the Young America’s Foundation National Conservative Student Conference. This was after the Aug. 1 column and before the Aug. 4 meltdown on air.
Heiser said he was “told in no uncertain terms beforehand that should I have the gall to ask Mr. Novak about his involvement regarding the CIA leak investigation, he would say no comment and walk away.� The Financial Times reported in its print editions (not online): “He has suggested he would end even live radio or TV interviews if any questions came up about the CIA leak case.� Heiser said the exchange went like this:
Q: Alright, let’s just get to the meat here – you’ve been maintaining silence throughout the grand jury investigation, but you just published a column on Monday —
A: My third column total on itQ: Well, right, but…
A: I’m not going to answer any of it. Not at all.
Q: But don’t you have an obligation to explain your role?
A: I’m not a public figure.
Q. Except isn’t that self-serving?
A. You can say what you want…�
Q. Wait, you need to –
A. I think this interview is over!
And then Novak stormed off, Heiser said. Next day later he walked off on the set of “Inside Politics� and ended the Ed Henry interview before it began. (Thanks, Scott.)
This suggests that Novak (a)made a personal policy decision to stop talkinb about the issue, (b)had become uncharacteristically thin-skinned, (c)clearly is not happy about BEING a story rather than commenting on one or revealing one.
Oh. And in answer to some comments on our previous post. Most journalists would NOT be allowed to return to a TV set if they had stormed off in mid-interview. People can do the mental limbo all the want on this issue to make excuses for Novak, but what Novak did was highly unprofessional. And, by the way, if it wasn’t, then why did he apologize later?
If a young journalist appearing for the first time on Inside Politics or a blogger appearing on Connected shouted “This is B.S!” and walked off, they would be history on those programs. But this is Bob Novak. He is a big name. He may get another chance where the rest of the mortals (you and I) would not.
We thus return to our question about Novak’s fate on CNN. It’s hard to imagine him returning to his old role without some changes. In fact, if CNN is trying to build ratings and rebuild credibility and they might be wise to slowly put Novak out to pasture.
Of course, then Novak will likely wind up where some high profile CNNers often wind up — at Fox News.
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.