Newspaper Clients Stick With Novak

By: Dave Astor Robert Novak has been criticized for naming a CIA operative in his column, but has not lost any clients because of it, 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. A number of prominent Democrats are demanding that a special counsel be appointed to investigate whether the White House illegally divulged the 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 Monday 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."