Rowland Evans Jr. and Robert Novak were one of the best known and longest lasting journalistic partnerships of the 20th century. Beginning in 1963, they collaborated on “Inside Report,” a nationally-syndicated newspaper column. Later, they successfully moved to television, most notably as Evans & Novak on the CNN network. In addition, they published the Evans-Novak Political Report, a bi-weekly newsletter, and together wrote several books and many magazine articles. Because of their exposé style of journalism, Evans and Novak themselves were often as much of a news story as the events they reported. Most notable of such controversial incidents was Novak's publication in 2003 of the identity of a CIA operative as the wife of Joseph C. Wilson, a critic of the George W. Bush administration's Iraq policy.
Evans was born on April 28, 1921 in Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania. He attended the Kent School and Yale University (1941-1942) before enlisting in the Marine Corps during World War II. He was discharged in 1944 because of malaria. Rather than returning to Yale, Evans began his career in journalism as a reporter for the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin and then for the Associated Press, covering the Senate for the wire service from 1953 to 1955. Evans then transferred to the New York Herald Tribune's Washington, D.C. bureau where he reported on Congress and national politics. During this period he traveled extensively in Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and Asia.
Novak, who was ten years Evans' junior, was born on February 26, 1931 in Joliet, Illinois. After attending local schools he enrolled at the University of Illinois, graduating in 1952. During this period he also worked for the Joliet Herald-News and the Champagne-Urbana Courier. From 1952 to 1954 Novak served in the Army, and after discharge he worked for the Associated Press, first in Omaha, then in Indianapolis, and finally in Washington, D.C. In 1958 Novak joined the Washington, D.C., bureau of the Wall Street Journal as Senate correspondent and political reporter; in 1961 he became the paper's chief congressional correspondent.
Evans and Novak began their partnership with the first appearance of “Inside Report” on May 15, 1958. The column appeared four times a week and was syndicated by Publishers Newspaper Syndicate, with the New York Herald Tribune as its home paper. After the Herald Tribune folded in 1966, Field Enterprises became sole owner of the syndicate, and the Chicago Sun-Times became the home newspaper for the column. In 1986 the Sun-Times sold the syndicate to King Enterprises, although the Sun-Times continued as the column's home paper. In 1989 Evans and Novak left King Features and joined Richard Newcombe's Creators Syndicate. At one time “Inside Report” was distributed to over 300 newspapers. The column was a success from the beginning, largely because it aimed to provide news, rather than just opinion. In keeping with the column's title, Evans and Novak's network of contacts allowed them to offer an insider's view of politics in the nation's capital. By 1970 Washingtonian magazine called the column “highly influential” and “must reading.” The individual contributions of the two men to the column were virtually indistinguishable, although Evans wrote more foreign affairs columns, and Novak generally wrote the political and domestic affairs stories. At first the column was thought to have a liberal bias, but over time the column became increasingly conservative. Novak, in particular, became affiliated with supply side economists Arthur Laffer and Jude Wanniski. He was also influenced by the anti-communism of Whittaker Chambers. As a result, the Evans and Novak columns were critical of Democratic Presidents Carter and Clinton, but tended to praise the administration of Ronald Reagan.
Evans and Novak expanded their partnership to television during the 1960s, beginning with programs of political commentary aired in the capitol area. The team eventually became one of the leaders in the emerging cable news industry, and Novak's acerbic on-camera television personality made him a media celebrity and a highly paid public speaker. In 1980 Evans and Novak moved their television broadcasting to CNN, the new cable news network and began the weekly program Evans & Novak. This program later became Evans, Novak, Hunt & Shields, and after Evans' death in 2001 it became Novak, Hunt & Shields. The program ended in 2002. In addition, during the 1980s Novak appeared regularly on the McLaughlin Group, another CNN news talk program. It was Novak's heated clashes with host John McLaughlin on this program that first gave public exposure to Novak's nickname, the “Prince of Darkness.” In 1988 Novak left McLaughlin to create Capital Gang, a new program on CNN. Novak not only appeared regularly on Capital Gang, but he also served as executive producer which gave him virtual control of the content. Capital Gang aired for 16 years before ending in 2005. Novak also appeared frequently on CNN's Crossfire and eventually became a permanent host. During the 1990s Novak became a commentator for National Empowerment Television (later America's Voice) for which he hosted the Insights program. Novak's affiliation with CNN ended in 2005 after he walked off the set of the “Inside Politics” program. Thereafter he provided occasional commentary for the Fox network. Evans and Novak also appeared individually on national news interview programs such as Meet the Press and Face the Nation.
In addition to their newspaper column, the two journalists wrote several books together (Lyndon B. Johnson: the Exercise of Power, 1966; Nixon in the White House: The Frustration of Power, 1971; and the Reagan Revolution, 1981), as well as several limited circulation newsletters (most notably the Evans-Novak Political Report, which began in 1967) and numerous magazine articles. Novak alone authored the Agony of the GOP, 1964; Completing the Revolution: a Vision for 2000; and an autobiography, The Prince of Darkness: Fifty Years Reporting in Washington (2007). In 1979 the team became roving reporters for Reader's Digest, and they wrote many articles for that magazine.
Evans retired from the column in 1993, although he continued to appear on the television program until his death from cancer in 2001. Evans was survived by his wife Katherine Winton Evans, the editor of Washington Journalism Review, and two children: Sarah Warren Evans and Rowland Winton Evans. After Evans retired, Novak continued to write the “Inside Report” column alone three times a week. In 2001 Novak received the lifetime journalism achievement award of the National Press Club. Robert Novak retired in 2008 because of ill health. Novak was married in 1957 while working in Indianapolis, but divorced the following year. In 1962 Novak married Geraldine Williams, who had been Lyndon Johnson's secretary. They were the parents of two children, Alex Novak and Zelda Novak Caldwell.
