WebEditor

Sheila Moss, NSNC WebEditor

State of the Newspaper Biz

In the digital age, newspapers are continuing to suffer revenue declines. While people are spending more time consuming news, the media of choice is the web, which is gaining while other sectors are losing. The Internet is the place where 41% of Americans now get most of their news about national and international issues. In 2010…

Hiaasen’s Humor from Anger

Fans of Miami Herald writer, Carl Hiaasen, 2010 NSNC Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, will be happy to know he has authored a new book called Star Island. His sharp, dry, humor is known to readers of satire worldwide. In a recent book review and interview for the UK Guardian, Hiaasen says that writing satire these…

President’s Message – “Not Going Anywhere”

By Ben S. Pollock NSNC President An NSNC friend e-mailed links to farewell pieces that a couple of just-downsized columnists were allowed to publish. That opportunity isn’t always granted. Atypically, he didn’t add his opinion, which made my impression of this pair a surprise — mainly to me: So what, I thought? How dare they?…

Columnist David Broder dead at 81

David Broder, Pulitzer-Prize winning Washington Post columnist, died Wednesday, March 9th, of complications from diabetes. Broder received the Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists . Broder was one of the most respected political commentators of his generation. His column on politics appeared on the op-ed pages of dozens of…

Is Dan Savage ‘the most influential advice columnist’?

IBM Selectric II typewriter

The current issue of Washington Monthly crowns advice columnist Dan Savage as this generation’s “most influential advice columnist,” specifically successor to Ann Landers, at the same time it argues the incongruity of such a claim. Lutheran pastor Benjamin J. Dueholm wrote the lengthy profile, calling Dan Savage the “brilliant and foul-mouthed sex columnist [who] has…

A TV Show Starring You … Why Not?

Art of Column Writing By Suzette Martinez Standring NSNC Past President The possibility to host your own TV show may be easier than you think and if you are so inclined, be encouraged. Since last June, I’ve hosted “It’s All Write with Suzette,” a 30 minute how-to program on the craft of column writing.  The…

One Score and 14 Years Ago: a 1977 Story about Our Founding

When the National Society of Newspaper Columnists began in 1977, NSNC founder Larry Maddry wrote an un-bylined story about the new group for Editor & Publisher magazine. Larry, a now-retired Norfolk (Va.) Virginian-Pilot columnist who is one of this year’s NSNC Legacy Award winners, mailed our organization a photocopy of his 34-year-old article after learning…

Three NSNC Pioneers Honored

Award Certificate

The National Society of Newspaper Columnists will honor three of its pioneers for outstanding service to the organization at the annual conference in Detroit, June 23-26. The NSNC Legacy Award will be presented posthumously to Mike Harden, longtime columnist for The Columbus Dispatch, who unveiled the new award at the 2010 conference in Bloomington, Ind.…

Interview with NSNC Veep

Karen J. Rinehart is a Charlotte, NC area syndicated columnist, author and speaker. She has been writing her award-winning column, “True To Life”, (a.k.a. The Bus Stop Mommies), since 2002. It is syndicated by Media General newspapers and a regular feature on CatholicLane.com and CatholicExchange.com. Rinehart is a frequent guest humorist and “mommy expert” on…

April 18 – National Columnists’ Day

A historic picture of the original grave site of Ernie Pyle, famous World War II columnist and news journalist, surfaced recently on Facebook. It shows a long trench-like grave site where Pyle was originally laid to rest among other fallen soldiers. An unidentified soldier pays final respects in a place as simple and honest as Pyle’s writing and as bleak as…

$10,000 Contest – Detroit News, Detroit Free Press

Detroit Media Partnership announced a contest with $10,000 in prize money for the two best ideas that help the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News better serve the community and increase readership. Detroit Media Partnership, L.P. manages the business functions of the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News, the largest newspapers in Michigan.…

New Book for California Columnist

Gayle Carline, NSNC member, writes to us to say: “I wanted to let you know about my very first book of humor columns that were previously published in my newspaper, the Placentia News-Times.” Gayle has been writing for the newspaper since 2005, and has put out a book of her experiences as a columnist, woven…

Writer for Jay Leno Goes Print

The Omaha World-Herald has a new humor-columnist. Actually, he was already writing for the World-Herald as a sports columnist on a free-lance basis. Brad Dickson grew up in Omaha and was even a paperboy for the newspaper at one time in his life. But that was a long time ago, before he made it big…

2011 Custom Content Conference

We’re Invited ! NSNC Members are invited to join marketing and custom media professionals for the industry’s largest annual gathering.    March 23-25 Charleston, South Carolina The Mills House & Hibernian Hall 115 Meeting Street        The custom content industry is preparing for its largest annual gathering of senior-level custom media and marketing professionals in Charleston,…

Mary C. Curtis Receives Kiplinger Fellowship

Mary C. Curtis, columnist for AOL’s PoliticsDaily.com and member of the NSNC Board of Directors has been chosen for a 2011 Kiplinger Fellowship in Public Affairs Journalism at the Ohio State University. The Kiplinger Foundation awards short-term fellowships designed to help writers make better use of new online tools and channels. Winners will go to…

Gonzalez Wins Polk Award for Commentary

New York Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez received the 2010 George Polk Award for Commentary for exposing massive fraud of more than $720 million by consultants hired to overhaul a computerized payroll system for New York City. Gonzalez’s reporting helped lead to the federal indictment of four consultants and three associates on charges of fraud.…

Are Standards the Same When a Reporter is the Story?

   by Walter Brasch   walterbrasch@gmail.com   Lara Logan, CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent, was beaten and sexually assaulted, Feb. 11, while on assignment in Cairo to report on the revolution that concluded that day with Hosni Mubarak resigning as president.   Logan, according to an official CBS announcement, was attacked by a group of about 200…