Howell is a Board Member In Memoriam at the IWMF (International Women's Media Foundation).
In her January 15 column defending the reporting by Washington Post reporter Susan Schmidt on lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Howell claimed that Abramoff "had made substantial campaign contributions to both major parties,"[9] referring to the Republicans and Democrats.
Many readers took exception to Howell's statement, pointing to Federal Election Commission records that showed Abramoff had given money only to Republicans and none to Democrats.
[10] After receiving many angry comments at the Post's blog, Howell responded: "A better way to have said it would be that Abramoff 'directed' contributions to both parties.
Jim Brady, executive editor of washingtonpost.com, explained this by saying that there had been "personal attacks, the use of profanity and hate speech" by "a significant number of folks".
Some readers were skeptical of his claims and brought forth a mirror site of the blog that showed that there were relatively few posts fitting Brady's description.
The kicker for the column summed up her attitude about the whole matter: "To all of those who wanted me fired, I'm afraid you're out of luck.