Columnist tips from Dave Lieber
By Dave LieberThe Dallas Morning News City mayors, county leaders, state governors, and presidents are expected to show leadership in times of crisis. But I would argue that now is the time for columnists and bloggers to do the same. We learned after 9/11 what a difference one great column can make for readers. Remember…
By Dave Astor NSNC Archivist Dave Lieber will talk about TED at our annual conference, but Amon is also on his mind. When Dave speaks at our Buffalo conference June 22, the Dallas Morning News “Watchdog” columnist will tell attendees what a TED talk is, why they should do one, and how to make that…
you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist A good awards banquet is not only about award winners but also about the spirit of the organization. Our 2018 awards banquet captured the strong playful spirit of our group along with many surprises. From a potential presidential candidate in the audience (Ohio Sen. Sherrod…
you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist A media expert I know suggested to me that columnists such as you and I ought to go on Facebook Live and read our work aloud. How boring. But that night, I went home, turned on blue lights in my backyard, and launched the “Sunday…
You, the Columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist My kid brother visited recently and gasped when he saw my home office library. Hundreds of journalism books. Biographies of newspaper legends. Many columnist collections. “Get rid of them,” he said. “Why?” “Cause when you die it’s a pain to handle this. I had to…
You, the Columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist Isn’t it amazing what you do? Isn’t it amazing that you can… – Get an idea about something interesting and after you write about it, thousands of people know what’s on your mind. – Get paid for that. – Easily take high-quality photos to go…
You, the Columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist My newspaper added a new tag word for stories. Joining “courts,” “crime,” and “education” is this one: #UpliftingNews. These two words are the key to big stories in 2018. The American audience is so burned out by the brutal news of late that anything that…
You, the columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist On my 2018 to-do list for column writing: “Need scenes for leads. Need dialogue.” How do the masters do it? I run to my bookshelf and start pulling classic lead scenes for inspiration. What do you think of these? * Ellen Goodman: The man…
By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist If you’re reading this, you, the columnist, already believe you have strong messages, insights, and opinions to share in your writing. Nobody without that kind of self-confidence could ever be reading this columnists’ newsletter, right? But how did you get here? Chances are you were helped by a…
By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist Are you an awful columnist? Writer Hamilton Nolan says you are. He’s sure of it. In a piece on Fusion called “It is humanly impossible to be a good newspaper columnist,”, he writes that being a regular columnist “is one of the cushiest and most coveted jobs in…
By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist First, I write the column. This is about what’s next. Did Breslin do this? * I write the headline. If I fail on this and nobody likes my headline, all the work I did for a 900-word column goes to the crapper. I know this from…
By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist Now for the first time, I really feel it. I can touch it. It’s happening all around. The death of a competent, successful free press. The spiral downward for newspapers and TV news. We are going down and going down fast. It’s a combination: the smartphone, our own…
You, The Columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist Imagine if this column about columnists was a 1940s-style rat-tat-tat column. Let’s be Walter Winchell for a day. * Good evening, Mr. and Ms. NSNC members; put down your phones and pay attention. Banner Day for our own beloved W. Bruce Cameron. We now know…
by Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist Like you, I have many books on my shelf about writing. One that I loved when I was starting out 40 years ago is about the art of the interview. It’s a dying art. These days, I don’t get to do many interviews. My sources usually don’t want…
you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist One hard rule I always follow — until now — is that I never tell readers of my column anything about myself that would seem to put me above them. I don’t ever want to brag — or come off that way. Once I heard…
you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist What’s your thang? Do you have something that you’re known for? What kind of writer are you? How do you explain what you do at parties? This comes up because decades after her death, columnist Hedda Hopper came back to life as actress Helen Mirren…
you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist I own almost every book by and about Ernie Pyle. I also own a scrapbook of his World War II columns kept by a family during that time. I bought it at an NSNC Education Foundation auction more than a decade ago. My collection expanded…
