This is the ninth 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 Nat Hentoff was the first Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award winner not to travel to receive the honor in person, but he has otherwise traveled a…
The 2016 National Society of Newspaper Columnists presents the following new board to two-year positions: President — Lisa Smith Molinari Vice President — Mike Morin Director of Media — Bonnie Jean Feldkamp Scholarship Chair — Mike Leonard Leonard was re-election. Molinari had been vice president. Ben Pollock is leaving as media director after serving several…
By Amanda Beam Fabulous views are everywhere in Los Angeles. Travel to The Getty and you glimpse the spikes of Downtown L.A. skyscrapers in the distance. A trip to Will Rogers State Park will allow you to see the Pacific Ocean through the haze. But atop the Angeleno Hotel just north of Santa Monica Beach,…
By Lisa Smith Molinari NSNC President The steamy scent of freshly cut grass. The rat-a-tat of a distant parade drummer. The squeal of barefoot children. The mouthwatering sizzle of hot dogs on a charcoal grill. The fizz of nearby sparklers. The THUNK! that signals an explosion of color in the night sky. Every July 4th,…
Winners in the 2016 annual column contest of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists were announced Saturday night (June, 25) at the awards banquet of its 40th annual conference, held in Los Angeles. Each contestant submitted three columns or blog posts that were published in calendar year 2015. First place in each category is receiving…
The National Society of Newspaper Columnists has given its 2016 Sitting Duck Award to GOP presumptive presidential nominee Donald J. Trump. “Much like in the Republican primaries this year, the columnists’ vote for Trump was no contest,” said NSNC president Lisa Smith Molinari. “His margin was huuuuge.” The society met in Los Angeles over the weekend. The…
President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists During his 30-year reign as the king of late-night TV, “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson assumed the role of many characters in skits performed with sidekick Ed McMahon. One of his most popular was Carnac the Magnificent, the turbaned wise guy who would divine…
By Bonnie Jean Feldkamp NSNC Media Director For those who’d prefer to listen to this article you can do so at this SoundCloud page HERE. Many in the industry have discussed both sides of this issue. Some refuse to write for free and ask others to do the same in hopes that they’ll enact change…
Don McNay of Lexington, Kentucky, and New Orleans, a longtime member and former officer of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, died Sunday, May 29, 2016. He was 57. The Lexington Herald Leader reported he died suddenly in New Orleans. His widow, Karen Thomas McNay, is president of that city’s Ursuline Academy, a girls parochial school. Don reduced his…
A California columnist with a long record of community service is this year’s Will Rogers Humanitarian Award honoree. George Waters of Pasadena, whose humor column is published in four California newspapers, will receive the award at the 40th annual conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, meeting in Los Angeles. The award ceremony will be held…
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…
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…
#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…
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…
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…
