Advice Columns in Post-Landers Era

By: Dave Astor Fifteen months after Ann Landers' death, the general advice column remains a popular syndication category. But several features that primarily target a specific demographic are also gaining clients.

The most-read advice column is still Jeanne Phillips' "Dear Abby," which Universal Press Syndicate now distributes to about 1,400 papers. Prior to Landers' June 2002 death, both Phillips and Landers (the latter with Creators Syndicate) had 1,200-plus clients.

"'Dear Abby' is the most widely syndicated column in any genre -- not just advice -- in the world," said Kathie Kerr, Universal's director of communications.

"Annie's Mailbox," the July 2002-launched Creators column by former Landers assistants Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, now has about 700 papers. Creators President/CEO Rick Newcombe said "Dear Prudence" by Landers' daughter Margo Howard has about 200 clients and "Classic Ann Landers" 100-plus.

"The mass-market advice columns remain very strong," said Newcombe.

Tribune Media Services (TMS) President/CEO David Williams recalled that when the Chicago Tribune was seeking a staff successor to Landers, readers told the paper that they wanted "a compelling general advice columnist more than they want niche advice... ."

The Tribune chose Amy Dickinson, a single parent and journalist who has worked for newspapers, magazines, TV, and radio. TMS said it's "too soon" to talk about client numbers for "Ask Amy," which entered syndication Sept. 1 after a July 20 start at the Tribune.

Not everyone feels that general advice is the only way to go. George Haeberlein, vice president for worldwide syndication sales at King Features Syndicate, said he's seeing more interest in niche advice columns since last year. "Newspapers are looking to attract and appeal to specific audiences," he observed.

The younger reader is often the audience targeted by niche-oriented features, said Karisue Wyson, sales manager/North America at the Washington Post Writers Group (WPWG).

For instance, Atoosa Rubenstein's "Dear Seventeen" -- which King launched in 2002 as "Ask CosmoGirl!" -- is read by many teen girls in about 50 papers. And "Help Me Harlan!" by Harlan Cohen has many readers in college and in their 20s. It moved from self-syndication to King last year, and now has about 30 clients.

At WPWG, "Tell Me About It" by Carolyn Hax started as a feature aimed at readers under 30. "But as Carolyn's audience grew, her demographics expanded," said Wyson. Now the column is considered more of a general-audience feature, though still "with an edge," according to Wyson. "Tell Me About It" currently has 212 papers, up from the low-100s at the time of Landers' death.

Harriette Cole's "Sense & Sensitivity," which increased from three to six times a week Sept. 1, has built a list of more than 25 clients since it entered syndication in July 2002 with United Media.

"The Advice Goddess" by Amy Alkon, who moved from self-syndication to Creators after Landers died, now has nearly 100 clients. Most are still alternative papers, but Newcombe said Alkon picked up at least a dozen major dailies during the past year or so.

General advice columns can also get lots of mail from the younger readers some niche columns target. "More than 80% of the letters 'Dear Abby' receives comes from people between 18 and 49," said Kerr. "The majority of the rest comes from people under 18."

Whether general or niche, why do advice columns remain popular? "Because readers are always looking to learn something from the newspaper," replied Haeberlein. "They turn to the newspaper for help and information."

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Newspapers Stick With Novak

Even as He's Criticized for Naming CIA Spy

Robert Novak has been criticized for naming a CIA operative in his column, but has not lost any clients because of it as of the week of Sept. 29, according to Creators Syndicate President Richard Newcombe.

Creators distributes Novak's Op-Ed commentary to more than 150 newspapers.

E&P Online contacted several clients to see why they're sticking with Novak. "He's a damn good journalist," said Bob McManus, editorial page editor of the New York Post. "We see no reason to sever the relationship." His opinion of the July 14 column naming the operative? "We published it," McManus replied. "That speaks to what we thought of it."

The column named the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who had challenged President Bush's claim that Iraq tried to purchase nuclear material in Africa. The Justice Department said it would look into the leak. A number of prominent Democrats are also demanding that a special counsel be appointed to investigate whether the White House illegally divulged the wife's name to retaliate against Wilson.

When E&P Online contacted Novak for comment about the controversy, the person answering his office phone said: "He's not available for questions about that. He's said all he's going to say."

Novak said Sept. 29 on CNN's Crossfire (which he co-hosts) that "nobody in the Bush administration called me to leak this" and that he first got the information about Wilson's wife while "interviewing a senior administration official." Novak added that he subsequently called the CIA, which "asked me not to use her name, but never indicated it would endanger her or anybody else."

Washington Post Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt said that when the paper first saw the July 14 piece, "There was nothing in the column that indicated to me that a major disclosure was being made. Nor did we receive a call from the CIA asking us not to publish. We do, as a newspaper, take seriously requests not to publish information that may have a damaging impact on national security."

So the Washington Post published the column. Now, more than two months later, what does Hiatt think about Novak naming Wilson's wife? "I think we don't know all the facts yet," he replied. "I'm in favor of being cautious until we do. We don't yet know whether a law was broken."

He added that the paper plans to continue running Novak's column.

In his Oct. 1 column, Novak again defended his July 14 piece, though he did write: "I regret that I referred to her [Wilson's wife] in my column as an 'operative.' ... An unofficial source at the agency says she has been an analyst, not in covert operations." But Wilson said his wife was involved in clandestine activities for the CIA.

Newcombe, who said Creators is "behind [Novak] 100%," reported that the Oct. 1 column was purchased on a one-shot basis by 46 newspapers in addition to Novak's regular clientele.

Novak -- a conservative who was not a big fan of the war in Iraq -- has received praise and criticism about his July 14 column from several quarters. Former federal prosecutor Joseph diGenova told Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post: "A reporter's job is to report. Obviously, information of the kind that Robert Novak reported is of keen interest to people involved the debate. ... Bob Novak is a very responsible journalist." But Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, said on NewsHour With Jim Lehrer that Novak has done a "terrible thing" that could endanger "this woman and her network of operatives."

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Was ID'ing Agent Unethical?

Editors Weigh in on Novak Column

By Joe Strupp

As the Justice Department investigates who leaked the identity of a CIA agent to columnist Robert Novak and perhaps five other journalists, ethical questions have arisen over whether Novak should have printed the name. Experts also wonder if the reporters who didn't publish the leak should have reported the leaker to federal authorities, and if the agent's identity has any news value anyway.

Although Novak's column -- which disclosed the identity of the CIA operative wife of retired diplomat Joseph Wilson -- ran more than two months ago, it drew new attention this week after U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that a federal investigation had begun into finding the Bush administration officials who reportedly disclosed her identity to Novak. In his column, Novak discussed the work of Wilson and reported that "two senior administration officials" had revealed the identity of Wilson's wife to Novak.

Newspaper veterans and journalistic observers disagreed over whether Novak's actions crossed any ethical or legal line, with most defending his reporting as good shoe-leather newspapering, while others claim he stepped over a boundary.

"It was and is unethical to finger somebody in intelligence, particularly when that person has nothing to do with the issue -- she was simply a sacrificial lamb," said Orville Schell, dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. "[Novak] will probably hide behind some ethical flack jacket. But that [shield] law is not designed to protect the White House."

Others said Novak had the right to publish the identity of Wilson's wife. "It was a heck of a story," said George Harmon, associate professor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. "I assume he thought it through and we don't know that that endangered her. It could be justified based on the news value." Marc Sandalow, a 10-year Washington correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle, agreed. "I don't blame Novak," he said. "He should not get into trouble."

Doyle McManus, Washington bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, also supported Novak's right to report the information, but questioned its relevance to the story. "I think it was a peculiar fact to report because it didn't seem to have any significance," he said. "We normally accede to the government's request not to print the identity of a CIA operative, but I can see reasons why we would break that rule."

When asked about those reporters who chose not to report the identity of Wilson's wife, most said they showed good journalistic judgment and should not be criticized for failing to report the alleged leaks by the administration.

"It is not unusual for journalists to have names of people in some sort of secret activity and not identify them," said Aly Colon, an ethics instructor at The Poynter Institute. "It could mean anything, from this is not a story to a concern about the consequences."

MacManus agreed. "I think I would have done what they did," he said about the other reporters, "unless I found some way that it was relevant to disclose [her identity]." He also defended the reporters who did not report that such leaking was going on. "It's not our job," McManus said. "It is the job of the government to police its employees -- not the job of the media."

Schell disagreed. "If there is fault to be portioned to the media, it was to those who named names," he said. But he added that the reporters who didn't reveal the identity of Wilson's wife should have reported on the attempted leaks. "This administration -- so opposed to leaking -- was itself involved in leaks," Schell said.

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'Candorville' Comic Coming

WPWG Will Launch it Oct. 19

A comic about a diverse group of young friends in the inner city is being launched Oct. 19 by the Washington Post Writers Group.

"Candorville" is by Darrin Bell, who also co-creates, with Theron Heir, the "Rudy Park" strip for United Media.

The comic's characters include Lemont Brown, an aspiring writer; Susan Garcia, who works in the corporate world; and Clyde, an angry man who makes the wrong choices in life. Issues such as bigotry, biracialism, poverty, and moreare explored in a humorous way.

Bell started freelancing editorial cartoons at the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned a degree in political science. His work has appeared in newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, as well as on TV stations such as CNN, MTV, and NBC.

"Candorville" -- available in English and Spanish -- first built a following on the Web and in several African-American newspapers.

In related news, the first "Rudy Park" collection is being released by Andrews McMeel Publishing. It's called Rudy Park: The People Must Be Wired.

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Huffington Ends Bid for Governor

She Had Halted Column to Run in California

Arianna Huffington, who put her Tribune Media Services (TMS) column on hiatus to run for governor of California, dropped out of the race Sept. 30.

A TMS spokesperson said Oct. 1 that it was too early to know exactly when Huffington's feature will resume, but that it probably wouldn't be until after the Oct. 7 election. Her column had a client list of more than 50 newspapers.

Press reports indicated that Huffington dropped her independent bid in order to work to defeat the recall and try to prevent a Republican from becoming governor of California.

Huffington's platform (Syndicate World, Aug. 14) included ending tax loopholes and preserving the environment.

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Schwarzenegger Books Serialized

Excerpts Offered By Creators Syndicate

Creators Syndicate is offering newspapers excerpts from two Simon & Schuster books by and about actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is running for governor of California.

One book is Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder by Schwarzenegger with Douglas Kent Hall. The other is Pumping Iron by Charles Gaines and George Butler.

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Columnists Debate on CNN

Solomon, Armstrong Discuss Iraq

Two syndicated columnists debated the current situation in Iraq during a recent appearance on CNN.

Norman Solomon of Creators Syndicate said: "My suggestion is that we compel the Bush administration to no longer insist on controlling Iraq and its oil. Get the U.S. troops out as part of getting the U.N. troops in. ... As long as the White House refuses to do that, U.S. troops will continue to be shot up because they're not welcome there."

Armstrong Williams of Tribune Media Services acknowledged the difficulties the U.S. is facing but supported President Bush's efforts in Iraq. "The regime of Saddam Hussein was a threat to world security and had to be dealt with," he said.

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Et cetera ...

Movie critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times and Universal Press Syndicate underwent surgery Sept. 30 to remove a malignant tumor on his salivary gland. Ebert told friends the cancer is not life-threatening, according to Sun-Times columnist Robert Feder. ...

Two columnists were among four recipients of the first $250,000 prizes from the conservative Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. They were Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post Writers Group and Thomas Sowell of Creators Syndicate. ...

The Detroit Free Press killed a freelancer-written negative review of the new novel by Free Press sports columnist Mitch Albom, according to a South Florida Sun-Sentinel article. The book, The Five People You Meet In Heaven, got a more positive review in papers such as The Boston Globe. Albom, who authored the Tuesdays With Morrie bestseller, is syndicated by Tribune Media Services (TMS). ...

Chris Browne created a special kid-oriented feature for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution called "How I Write and Draw a Comic Strip!" It included a template children could use to make their own comic. Browne does "Hagar the Horrible" for King Features Syndicate and "Raising Duncan" for United Feature Syndicate. ...

"Ask Mr. Know-It-All" is being syndicated by Newspaper Enterprise Association. Gary Lee Clothier's twice-weekly trivia feature replaces "Ask Holly Wood" in the NEA package. ...

New York Times/New York Times News Service Op-Ed columnist Paul Krugman has written The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in the New Century. ...

Stahler: Inkslinger, a collection of 130 editorial cartoons by Jeff Stahler of The Cincinnati Post and NEA, has been published. ...

"Everyday Cheapskate" columnist Mary Hunt of NEA has authored Debt-Proof Your Marriage: How to Achieve Financial Harmony.

A "Grand Avenue" series running through Oct. 11 explains how the Gabby and Michael characters came to terms with their parents' death. The twins live with their grandmother in Steve Breen's United comic, whose creator is also a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for The San Diego Union-Tribune and Copley News Service. ...

The work of "Mr. Boffo" cartoonist Joe Martin of TMS will be featured in an Oct. 11-12 show at the Lake Geneva (Wis.) Public Library. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Geneva Lake Conservancy.