Category: President’s Message

The NSNC president’s newsletter column

President’s Letter, March 2022

by Tony Norman, NSNC President This is the second of two interviews with NSNC members who began as columnists, but now find themselves balancing their personal voices with the responsibility of keeping a balanced opinion page at their respective publications.  Last month, Bonnie Jean Feldkamp, the Opinion Editor of The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky talked…

President’s Message, February 2022

by Tony Norman, NSNC President If there’s anyone in the NSNC who doesn’t need an introduction, it’s Bonnie Jean Feldkamp. Anyone who has been around this organization a few years knows that she’s a high-energy burst of ball lightning.  When Bonnie was the NSNC’s former media and public relations czarina and newsletter editor, she pushed…

President’s Message, January 2022

by Tony Norman, NSNC President Two weeks ago, I attended a relatively sparse screening of “The Matrix: Resurrections” at a multiplex at a nearby mall. Like the character Neo played by Keanu Reeves in four installments spanning two decades, I experienced bouts of déjà vu while sitting in the dark watching the movie run through its paces.…

President’s Message, December 2021

by Tony Norman, NSNC President You could be forgiven for believing that in the final weeks of November, everything was going to Hell. Speaking strictly for myself, I’ve had to consciously fight off a nagging weariness when sitting down to write my column.What’s the point of cleverly turning phrases or even penetrating insights when folks…

The Depressing Sprint to Jettison Print

Early in the morning of Feb. 26, the last edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that would ever be printed on a Friday landed on stoops, porches, sidewalks, lawns, and hedges with the indifference most of us had grown used to over the years.

Column Writing Is Your Superpower to Enact Change in Your Community

By NSNC President Tony Norman and NSNC Communications Director Bonnie Jean Feldkamp   Columns, as opposed to explanatory news stories, are uniquely positioned in the journalistic ecosystem to get things done. Unlike our just-the-facts reporter counterparts, we columnists get to directly call out our elected officials and community leaders, hold them to account, and ask for…

An Inspiring NSNC Webinar Is In the Books

By Tony NormanNSNC President My first NSNC webinar will probably rank as my favorite virtual interview of the pandemic age for quite a while. Last month, I had the pleasure of interviewing Pamela Paul, editor of The New York Times Sunday Book Review and grand Poobah of all its book coverage throughout the week. The weekly podcast she…

Voices From the Maelstrom

By Chris CarosaNSNC President While you’ve been busy working away, I’ve been reading for you.Sure, I know plenty of you read just as much as you write, but what are you reading? Are you reading to hone your craft? Or are you reading to survive another day.I’m doing the latter. For you. And for me.…

Three Things to Consider Before Becoming a Columnist

By Chris Carosa NSNC President In July, shortly after our wildly successful annual conference in Buffalo, Michael Marrer? posted this in our private member-only Columnist Clubhouse Facebook page: CURRENT STATE OF NEW SYNDICATION? Wanting to know in advance if I am engaging in a fool’s errand and/or just beating my head against a wall, given…

President’s Message: Take a Sad Song and Make It Better

By Chris Carosa NSNC President In January, the Reuters Institute issued a report titled “More Important, But Less Robust? Five Things Everybody Needs to Know about the Future of Journalism.” It’s their fourth point I’d like to focus on. It states that the ongoing pressure faced by current media business models continues to weaken journalism.…

Are You a Jerk?

By Chris Carosa NSNC President I admit it. I’m not enough of a jerk. I’m guessing that explains why I’m not as successful as I could be. Do you feel the same way about yourself and your own career? Here’s what I mean: At a recent journalism conference, I listened to a very dynamic speaker.…

Glorious Past, Prosperous Future

By Chris Carosa NSNC President Close your eyes for a moment and think back to that time when you first decided to become a columnist, to become a writer. Imagine the dreams you had right then. They started without clarity, a fuzzy mist of hope, angst, and maybe, if we were lucky, a touch of…

It’s Not What I Think That Matters…

By Chris Carosa NSNC President …It’s what you think. You folks are fun. That’s what really impresses me about this group. The best job in the world is the job you have fun doing. That’s us. (And not just because we happen to have a cornucopia of humorists!) Alas, fun is great, but as many…

Survey Shows Members Zestfully Agree Cincinnati Conference a Major Success

NSNC Shuffles Off to Buffalo in 2019 Riding Huge Wave of Enthusiasm President’s Message By Chris Carosa NSNC President No sooner had the last bit of swag been packed up from our sold-out June 7-10 Cincinnati Conference then your tireless leadership issued forth a survey asking attendees what they liked most and what they would…

My Life in Words

By Chris Carosa NSNC President Five-hundred words. That’s what Bonnie told me. “For your first President’s Letter, introduce yourself,” she said. “How many words?” I countered, like a schoolboy trying to game the homework assignment. “Five-hundred,” came the response. “Well,” I exhaled, “that is 200 more than Leonidas had men.” So, in the spirit of…

NSNC Statement on Capital Gazette shooting

Fellow Columnists: The National Society of Newspaper Columnists wishes to express its heartfelt sympathies and condolences to all those touched by yesterday’s tragic events in Annapolis. We continue to recognize the uncommon bravery exhibited by columnists and all journalists who regularly place their names on articles, columns, and mastheads for all to see. The tragic…