The NSNC and NSNC member John Avlon (co-editor of this year’s popular anthology Deadline Artists: America’s Greatest Newspaper Columns) want to know your choice of the best columns of 2011.
Please list them, at Facebook.com/columnists, with headline, columnist and its web link. We are looking for Newspaper Columns in any medium. Nominations deadline, noon Central Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011.
12/29 UPDATE: Vote on Facebook.com/columnists-Question between noon Central Wednesday and now ending noon Central Saturday, Dec. 31. Yes, the time to participate in the survey has been extended!
Here are the nominations, alphabetical by columnist. 12/28 Update: Facebook, apparently, allows just 10 lines on its ballot. I (Ben Pollock) culled by choosing just newspaper columns. Here:
- “Going Out Doing What They Love Best,” Rob Azevedo, The Citizen, Laconia, N.H., May 11, 2011
- “Farewell to Geronimo,” Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times, May 3, 2011
- “An Offer Legislators Can’t Refuse — or Can They?” Carl Hiaasen, The Miami Herald, Sept. 24, 2011
- “Captives to the Logic of Violence,” Robert Koehler, Tribune Media, Sept. 7, 2011
- “The Post-Truth Campaign,” Paul Krugman, The New York Times, Dec. 23, 2011
- “The Gifts That Gratitude Brings,” Rich Lowry, New York Post, Nov. 24, 2011
- “What the Costumes Reveal,” Joe Nocera, The New York Times, Oct. 28, 2011
- “Talk Isn’t Cheap at Our House — It’s Priceless,” Brian O’Connor, Detroit News, June 11, 2011
- “Treasure Each Day Like the Special Gift It Is,” Bill Tammeus, The Kansas City Star, Sept. 10, 2011
- “Mitt Romney, the Pretzel Candidate,” George F. Will, The Washington Post, Oct. 28, 2011
Here are the other nominated columns, published in other media.
- “The French Connection Between Old Books and Current Events,” Dave Astor, The Huffington Post, Dec. 8, 2011
- “Trial of the Will,” Christopher Hitchens, Vanity Fair, Dec. 7, 2011
- “Why Papers Are Dying: Lewis Grizzard Died First,” Dave Lieber, e-Columnist newsletter of NSNC, Dec. 1, 2011
- “Breaking the Rules and Winning a Fan,” Jeffrey Seglin, Tribune Media, April 10, 2011
“Please note the the official, decades-old NSNC Column Contest — the level of honor you can boast of on a resume — welcomes published columns in all media: newspapers, magazines, online and blogs written in column style, as well as multimedia formats including video. The rules for 2012 (covering columns published in 2011), will be posted here at columnists.com in January. The deadline for submissions is March 1, with the winners announced Saturday, May 6, at the NSNC annual conference, this year in Macon, Ga.
A difference between this contest and more conventional media writing competitions is that these nominations are from readers as well as the writers or their editors or publishers. Using Facebook as a polling device means no one, no Facebook account holder, can vote more than once. But they can change their votes. Also, the respondents are not chosen by random or other bias-checking means. So, while this is a bit stronger than the usual Internet straw poll, it’s no Gallup or Nielsen or Audit Bureau survey. Also, this doesn’t have the clout of the annual NSNC contest, which employs judges experienced in the craft and art of columns.
Disclaimers aside, the Facebook poll is useful information for writers and reader of columns. Results will be posted when available.
2 comments for “Nominations: Unofficial Best Column of 2011”