By Dave Lieber, Fort Worth Star Telegram I am insecure about my life as columnist. I worry about my next column, my next error. I worry about repeating myself. I fear the next time my boss gets irritated with me. My hate mail adds fuel to the fire, as does my lack…
The Story of the G.I. Joe Action Figure By Tom Henderson, Columnist You might have noticed a minor journalistic controversy a few years back after the great columnist Ernie Pyle was turned into a G.I. Joe doll (excuse me, action figure). Purists were peeved. Ernie was rolling about his grave, they said. A humble man…
The 32nd annual conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists “New Orleans, We Haven’t Forgotten.” Mike Argento, NSNC President, opens the 32nd Annual Conference in New Orleans. Lt. Governor of Louisiana, Mitch Landrieu, says Katrina was a life changing event for the people of New Orleans. Things are spoken of now in terms of pre-Katrina…
By Mike Argento, NSNC President I was reading a New York Times story about a $7 million libel verdict in a case filed by a judge and former Chicago Bear kicker against a newspaper columnist in Illinois when I stumbled upon a stunning passage. The story said, “The newspaper’s lawyers said they were handicapped because…
HeraldTimesOnline.com Commentary Frightening scene provides practical and personal revelations By Mike Leonard mleonard@heraldt.com June 26, 2008 I see all kinds of things when I look into Mardi¹s hazel eyes: shades of blue or green, depending on the day. Silent communication signaling consternation, concern, laughter or love. I’ve seen panic in my wife’s eyes a few…
Dave Lieber, in a column on this site, suggested that we should all learn more about Ambrose Bierce. To that end, here’s my column in InterCounty Newspapers, Pennsylvania, from April 16, 2003. Of All Things By James Smart The National Society of Newspaper Columnists annually designates April 18 National Newspaper Columnists Day. That brings to…
Dave Lieber Fort Worth Star Telegram Columnist Secretary, NSNC Education Foundation I feared the worst. Of the 110 columnists whom I hosted in Grapevine, Texas three years ago for the 2005 NSNC conference, how many still have columnist jobs? I decided to find out. Sent an e-mail survey to all e-mail addresses…
Samantha Bennett Pittsburgh Post-Gazette NSNC President Got that tired, run-down feeling? Are you pressured to do more with less, slash your expenses, take on extra duties, learn technologies you’d rather not? Worst of all, are you worried that your column is getting into a rut? You can’t wangle any more vacation, and besides,…
By Bill Tammeus For a newspaper-related blog to be effective, it must give readers something useful they can’t get elsewhere and it must do that consistently. So it can’t be just another column full of words. Rather, it must offer links to related Web sites, helpful graphics, an opportunity to correspond with the blogger and…
By Samantha Bennett NSNC President I don’t mean to frighten you, but I’m also sure I’m not telling you anything you don’t know: This is a weird and scary time to be a columnist. Almost every week, it seems, another newspaper announces layoffs or buyouts. Polls show the public doesn’t trust us or…
By Dave Lieber Fort Worth Star-Telegram Columnist www.yankeecowboy.com My first journalistic mentor was noted writer H.G. “Buzz” Bissinger. While in high school, I read his columns in the University of Pennsylvania student newspaper and decided I wanted to be like him. I enrolled at Penn, and in my first week as a freshman…
Samantha Bennett Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Hello, NSNC. I’m Samantha Bennett, and I write a weekly humor column for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Having been your membership chair and vice president, I’m now your president for the next two years. I ran on the strength of my cartwheeling prowess — but let me tell you a little more…
Smiley Anders The Advocate, Baton Rouge It takes a lot to shut up a bunch of columnists. These are people used to expressing their opinions forcefully – and often. On Saturday I was in a bus full of them, and they were finally at a loss for words. At the 32nd annual conference of the…
I was going to write about our upcoming conference in New Orleans, or how I’ve spent the week doing stuff like recording podcasts and scripting Web videos and producing parody ads. But I can’t. Not right now. My friend Jim Hubley died. He had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor just a few days…
By Dave Lieber Fort Worth Star-Telegram Secretary, NSNC Education Foundation www.yankeecowboy.com I looked all over for my Wall Street Journal. But it wasn’t there the other day. No, the New York Times, the Dallas Morning News and my own Fort Worth Star-Telegram were lying there on the driveway. But no Journal. This bothered me. I…
By Terry Marotta Columnist, The Citizen of Laconia (N.H.) Last Tuesday a seventh grader named Danielle wrote to the National Society of Newspaper Columnists with some questions about our work. She needed the answers by Friday and was sorry this was so last-minute, but she did hope someone could help her. As a proud member…
Paula LaRocque: Some tips for clear and graceful writing Noted writing coach Paula LaRocque brought her years of experience to the 2007 Will Rogers Writers’ Workshop in Oklahoma City where she shared some of her ideas about writing. Here are a few of her tips to improve your writing: Keep sentences short. The…
