This is the seventh in a series of articles about recipients of the NSNC’s annual Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award. By Dave Astor Archivist National Society of Newspaper Columnists The awarding of the 1999 Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award to Celestine Sibley was memorable for several reasons. She was the oldest recipient (age 85), the second…
President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists I knew I wanted to be a writer in high school. My decision could be encapsulated in one word: algebra. I was never very good in subjects that required me to know the answers. Algebra was the worst. I was always better in subjects…
you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist One hard rule I always follow — until now — is that I never tell readers of my column anything about myself that would seem to put me above them. I don’t ever want to brag — or come off that way. Once I heard…
The 2016 Nominating Committee of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists presents the following slate of nominees to two-year positions being left vacant June 30. President — Lisa Smith Molinari Vice President — Mike Morin Director of Media — Bonnie Jean Feldkamp Scholarship Chair — Mike Leonard The board elections will be during the annual…
[Note: A 6:34 audio podcast of this column can be streamed or downloaded at this Soundcloud page.] By Bonnie Jean Feldkamp Most publications purchase columns for First North American Serial Rights. This means they get to publish it first and after an embargo period, usually specified in your contract, the writer is free to reprint…
Guest Column By Joseph E. Rathjen Member, National Society of Newspaper Columnists Attribute … Attribute … Attribute. Authors hear that word constantly from responsible editors who have only their publication’s and their writers’ best (legal) interests at heart. Plagiarism is an accusation that echoes through a newspaper’s editorial halls like a sonic boom and one…
#NSNC16 Annual Contest Judges have completed their task and chosen the finalists of the 2016 Annual Column Contest of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. They’ve also ranked them, but that’s a secret until the June 25 Awards Banquet of the 40th annual NSNC Conference, June 24-26 at the Hotel Angeleno in Los Angeles. Finalists…
#NSNC2016 – Los Angeles By Michele “Wojo” Wojciechowski By now, you’ve read a lot about this year’s NSNC Conference: the big names in the writing business who are speaking, the opportunities to pitch and the places you’ll go. But have you really thought about how much fun you’ll have? Well, let me tell you. ……
Jeff Zaslow College Columnist Award A Longhorn has been named the 2016 recipient of the Jeff Zaslow College Columnist Award. Jake Schmidt of the University of Texas at Austin will receive $1,000 from the scholarship contest sponsor, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists Education Foundation. The check will be presented in a ceremony Saturday, June…
The sixth annual Nonfiction Writers Conference will be May 4-6, 2016. This is a virtual (online) event featuring 15 speakers over the three days. The NWC is offering members of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists a special 30 percent-off discount code. It is NSNC30. When you register at the conference website, enter NSNC30 where…
By Lisa Smith Molinari Vice President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Recognizing the importance of diversity in American journalism — and that columnists come in all shapes, sizes, colors, genders and orientations — the National Society of Newspaper Columnists is proudly partnering with the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association as of April 26, 2016. “This networking partnership…
Lifetime Achievers This is the sixth in a series of articles about recipients of the NSNC’s annual Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award. By Dave Astor Archivist National Society of Newspaper Columnists As I prepared to write this latest article in my chronological series about NSNC Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award recipients, I was thrilled to…
Art of Column Writing By Suzette Martinez Standring 2004-06 NSNC president Syndication as an income stream, how do you break in? I am not referring to self-syndication or to traditional syndicates, such as Tribune Media or Creators Syndicate. Rather, what are newsgroup syndicates [traditionally called news services for multiproperty media corporations] looking for now? For…
President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists (SCENE: The office of Ron Howard at Imagine Entertainment in Beverly Hills, California. It’s noon. The door opens.) SECRETARY “Mr. Zezima is here to see you, Mr. Howard.” HOWARD “Who’s Mr. Zezima?” SECRETARY “That newspaper columnist who won the charity raffle to pitch his…
#NSNC16 – Los Angeles By Suzette Martinez Standring NSNC Conference Committee Do you have a book, column, or concept that could go Hollywood? Take a chance and pitch your film/TV idea to a Hollywood producer! Open only to 2016 NSNC conference registrants, at least three lucky winners each will have a private meeting to give…
#NSNC16 – Los Angeles By Cathy Turney NSNC Conference Committee Authoring a published book is your passport to greater professional recognition. Doesn’t matter if it’s traditionally published or self-published. Well, Random House does carry some caché. The fact that you wrote a book that has an ISBN number, a Library of Congress number, that can be…
Lifetime Achievers This is the fifth in a series of articles about recipients of the NSNC’s annual Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award. By Dave Astor Archivist National Society of Newspaper Columnists Was Williamsburg, Virginia, a good locale for presenting Washington Post political columnist David Broder with the 1997 National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ Ernie Pyle…
