Below are links to articles in the top media about the National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ 2011 conference or the 2011 column contest. The list will be updated. In a few days, another list will be begun with links to columns and blogs written by conferees themselves. Conference National Society of Newspaper Columnists Coming Here…
Roger Ebert, recipient of the 2011 Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists DETROIT, Saturday, June 25, 2011 — Following is the acceptance speech of Roger Ebert for the Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award. Ebert’s physical condition prevented him from accepting in person, but he “spoke” live via Skype from…
DETROIT, Saturday, June 25, 2011 – “The Body Politic” is the winner of the 2011 Sitting Duck Award of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. “Our public servants have been abusing their franking privilege,” said Ben S. Pollock, president of the NSNC, which gives this award annually to an easy target for columnists on a…
DETROIT, Saturday, June 25, 2011 — In a survey of columnists nationwide, the top American column in history was typed up by the late, great Ernie Pyle. Pyle’s “The Death of Captain Waskow” first was published Jan. 10, 1944, by his syndicate, Scripps Howard. John Avlon, senior political columnist for Newsweek-The Daily Beast, created the…
DETROIT, Mich., Feb. 7, 2011 – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times movie columnist, author, television host and blogger, has been selected to receive the 2011 Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. “As a small boy I read my aunt’s book of Ernie Pyle’s reporting, which makes his award even more…
Food writer Mark Bittman of The New York Times this week ends his weekly recipe column “The Minimalist.” It’s run more than 13 years, nearly 700 columns. A serious reporter and witty commentator, Bittman actually is moving on to a new column, on the Times’ op-ed pages and in a blog, about the politics of…
Columnists.com now has archived the 1990-2010 winners of the annual contest of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, plus ’88 and ’86’s. Click here for the list. The NSNC sponsors an annual contest for published columnists (as opposed to a competition among student writers, which also is offered). A glance through these previous winners shows a…
Columnist Stu Bykofsky of the Philadelphia Daily News, despite being quite the extrovert, rarely finds himself a news subject. It’s because he’s first a journalist, although with his in-your-face style, that might seem surprising. This week, however, Bykofsky has landed in the cable yaks war, “yaks” being those chat-show hosts on the 24/7 news/comment channels,…
From the November 2010 issue of the e-Columnist newsletter By Suzette Martinez Standring 2004-05 NSNC Past President As a long time freelance columnist, I used to envy the steady paycheck and job security of my salaried colleagues as I chased after writing gigs and venues. Today, newspapers have decimated their ranks of columnists and reporters,…
President’s Message First published in the November 2010 issue of the e-Columnist By Ben S. Pollock NSNC President “Politics make strange bedfellows” goes the quote by 19th-century newspaperman Charles Dudley Warner, and this fall it’s been columnists getting renown for jumping on the mattress. Columnists, commentators, news analysts, bloggers, interest-group hacks, cable yaks — aren’t…
Suzette Martinez Standring won First Place in the Unpublished Essay category in the 2010 Royal Palm Literary Awards competition sponsored by the Florida Writers Association. “The Height of Power: Petite Women Speak of Stature,” shares the experiences and challenges of women, 5-foot-3 and under, who successfully navigate the world at armpit level. The essay encapsulated the concept for Standring’s current…
DW inks dog hit to flick Studio bones up on Bruce’s book Award-winning NSNC member W. Bruce Cameron, who last made headlines with the publication and quick rise to best-seller status of his first novel, A Dog’s Purpose, now is preparing its screenplay. His is not work on spec, though, hoping to run into Steven…
The Columbus Dispatch reported late on Oct. 13, 2010, the death of Mike Harden at the age of 64. Details are found in this updated article, written by the NSNC’s Joe Blundo. The obituary has links to several of his columns and a selection of pictures. Mike was one of the earliest members of the…
The National Society of Newspaper Columnists board is looking ahead. While it actively is helping Conference Chair Brian O’Connor plan the 2011 conference in Detroit, on Oct. 13, 2010, it chose Macon, Ga., as the site of its 2012 conference. Columnist Ed Grisamore of the Macon Telegraph will be conference coordinator. The reasons are given gracefully…
The National Society of Newspaper Columnists salutes James J. Kilpatrick. The University of Missouri graduate, for more than 50 years a prominent conservative political columnist, died Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010, news services reported Monday. He was 89. Obituaries in The Washington Post and The New York Times convey a more controversial career than fans of…
Following are comments the judges made on the entries of the first-place winners of the 2010 Column Contest of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Here is the full list of winners. General Interest Greater than 100,000 Circulation, Tom Rademacher, The Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press: “There’s a feeling, you get when you’ve been caught doing something you shouldn’t…
Statement on Helen Thomas from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists Friday, June 11, 2010 For decades, Helen Thomas has been a paragon for younger journalists and her closing her career as a bad role model provides lessons as well, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists finds. Thomas, who turns 90 in August, has been…
