The Macon Telegraph in Georgia and Georgia Public Broadcasting are planning an innovative new project that will have professional reporters training Mercer University journalism students. Ed Grisamore, Chair of the 2012 conference told the NSNC Board, “I also expect there will be some conference interest in this breaking news from the Telegraph. I’m not saying [...]
Announcements
Bruce Cameron discontinues newspaper column
In an unexpected announcement, humor columnist and author W. Bruce Cameron announced that he has decided to discontinue his newspaper column on Jan 7th. Cameron made the announcement with his usual sense of humor: “So, after starting my column in 1995 as an email only thing, going to the Rocky Mountain News in 1998 and [...]
Member News
Ernie Witham leads workshops
Ernie Witham Columnist and author, Ernie Witham, who writes “Ernie’s World” for the Montecito Journal in Montecito, California, will be leading four workshops at the Whidbey Island Writers Conference, Langley, WA, March 2-4, 2012. *Humor on Vacation. The Fun and Funny Aspects of Travel *The Craft of Humor Writing. Making Funny Funnier *Did You See [...]
Announcements
Board Meets – Discusses Georgia Conference in Spring
The NSNC board of directors met Monday evening online. The major topic was the the 2012 NSNC Conference in Macon, Georgia, May 3-6 at the Marriott Hotel. Ed Grisamore, conference chair reports, “Everything is going great. Sponsorships falling into place. Programs lining up.” Ed is getting help from the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and a [...]
Members' Books
Rademacher promoting new book
Tom Rademacher Tom Rademacher, Grand Rapids Press, has a new book called “Knocking at Your Door,” a book of columns published by Lake Michigan Books. Rademacher is a prize-winning columnist who received First Place for two straight years in the General Interest Category of the annual NSNC Writing Contest, as well as scoring wins in [...]
You, the Columnist
Why papers are dying: Lewis Grizzard died first
By Dave Lieber Fort Worth Star-Telegram www.YankeeCowboy.com One of my pet peeves is when people come up to me and say, “It’s a shame that the Internet is killing newspapers.” I heartily disagree. Newspapers survived for 15 years with the Internet offering our stuff for free. What’s killing newspapers, first and foremost, is [...]
Members' Books
Bad Dad, lastest book by Dave Lieber
Columnist-author-speaker Dave Lieber has authored a deeply personal narrative that explores parental responsibility, child-rearing practices and discipline, journalistic ethics, small-town corruption and retribution, and the moral consequences of being a public figure. Lieber, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Watchdog columnist, said the book is “a risky project.” “Some warned me not to do this,” he said. [...]
President's Message
President’s Column: Occupy Romenesko
By Ben S. Pollock President, National Society of Newspaper Columnists A correction has been made. It is noted below the column. The momentary loss of Jim Romenesko writing a well-regarded blog on news media news is the latest example of corporate journalism losing its way. Or it’s another inconsequential demonstration of panic in the halls [...]
Members' Books
Hot Dog! Gris Has a New Book
Busy Ed Grisamore found time in his schedule of writing columns for the Macon, Ga., Telegraph and planning next year’s annual conference to turn out another book. It’s titled There Is More than One Way to Spell Wiener: The Story of Nu Way-Weiners and it’s the story of America’s second-oldest hot dog chain. [...]
Member News
Horowitz Ending Syndicated Column
(Two corrections made to article, in bold, below) Rick Horowitz, long-time NSNC member, announced that he is ending his twice-weekly syndicated column at the end of the year. Rick plans to devote his extensive energies to a new business venture called Prime Prose, LLC. His new enterprise will pull together an expanding assortment of the [...]
Newsletter
In the December Newsletter
The last issue of The e-Columnist for 2011 contains some articles of interest to everyone. President Ben Pollock writes about Jim Romenesko and his departure from www.poynter.org. Dave Lieber draws a connection between the late Lewis Grizzard, an outstanding southern humor writer, and the decline of newspaper readership. A large number of NSNC members are included in [...]
Member News
Luellen Smiley Making The Radio Rounds
NSNC member Luellen Smiley was guest of Philadelphia-based radio host and television personality Mike Smerconish on The Morning Mouth earlier this month. Smiley, is the daughter of reputed mobster, Allen Smiley. Smiley’s dad was a close friend and confidant of famous Las Vegas mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and he was sitting on the couch just feet [...]
Announcements
Registration for Bombeck Workshop Opens Dec. 6th
University of Dayton ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Registration for the 2012 Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop, directed toward humor writers, will open Dec. 6, per Workshop Director, Matt Dewald. Space for this conference usually sells out fast, so if you are interested in attended, we recommend registering right away. The 2012 workshop at the University of Dayton will kick [...]
Articles
Penn State: “We Are — Going To Be OK”
By Russell Frank, NSNC Board Member & Penn State Faculty Member As Published at StateCollege.com 11/11/11 It’s time to stop calling this place Happy Valley. The name doesn’t fit. It never did. The out-of-town reporters describe us as “an idyllic community,” “a tranquil football Eden” “nestled” in the mountains of central Pennsylvania. Spare us. As many [...]
Articles
Andy Rooney was a close friend of Ernie Pyle during WWII
Courtesy of www.heraldtimesonline.com By Mike Leonard mleonard@heraldt.com 11/8/2011 Amid the many well-deserved tributes to the late Andy Rooney, it looks as though one of the things of which he was most proud is being greatly overlooked — his friendship with the famous columnist and war correspondent Ernie Pyle. Rooney was by his own account a [...]
Columnists Academy
How Journalism Jobs Stack Up
Some observations about journalism as an occupation were recently published by the Wall Street Journal. The statistics were based on 2010 U.S. Census statistics. The median annual salary for journalism majors is $50,000, per the latest data. This is about the same as majors in English, history, or communications. However, journalists have a 7 percent [...]
Art of Column Writing
Looking for Crazy Genius
By Suzette Martinez Standring NSNC Past President The best storytellers are like keen-nosed truffle dogs, looking for riches below the surface. It’s what columnists do most days under deadline, usually in 750 words or less. Other writers have a lot more space. Recently, I went to see The New York Times best-selling [...]
The Social Media
Conference sponsors
