'Churlish,' 'Pugnacious' Novak Couldn't Always Document Scoops, NYT Chides

According to the New York Times’ Douglas Martin and Jacques Steinberg, the "often churlish," "pugnacious" Robert Novak "could not always document" his scoops. Littered in the August 19 obituary of the conservative journalist are other snide remarks and asides.

Discussing the political column that Novak co-wrote for 30 years with Rowland Evans, the reporters worried, "For all its influence, though, the column could not always document its scoops. In April 1972, Mr. Evans and Mr. Novak reported that Senator George S. McGovern, the Democratic presidential candidate, favored abortion rights, legalization of marijuana and amnesty for draft dodgers — positions that crippled his standing with most conservative voters."

Martin and Steinberg did note that in 2007 Novak identified his source as "Senator Thomas F. Eagleton, who had briefly been Mr. McGovern’s running mate before being forced off the ticket by disclosures about electric shock treatments in his past."

In regards to documentation, this is the same New York Times that published an obituary of Walter Cronkite on July 18 that was riddled with seven errors, prompting a lengthy correction.

Martin and Steinberg also complained, "On cable television, Mr. Novak was the often churlish commentator in the three-piece suit, his eyebrows, it seemed, permanently arched." Churlish? As in boorish or rude? That sounds like an oddly aggressive description for an obituary. The piece began by labeling Novak "the pugnacious political columnist."

Other asides included insisting, "Mr. Novak relished making outrageous comments. He once complained that his Thanksgiving dinner had been ruined by seeing so many homeless people on television."

At times, the two reporters seemed unable to refrain from editorializing:

In interviews, Mr. Novak seemed to rub salt into the wounds of the other journalists. "I don’t know why they’re upset with me," he told Brian Lamb of C-Span in 2004. "They ought to worry about themselves. I worry about myself."