President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Leave it to Mark Twain to have the best take on April Fools’ Day. In “Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar,” he wrote, “This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are the other 364.” Before he became “the Lincoln of our literature,”…
Art of Column Writing By Suzette Martinez Standring 2004-06 President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Life is an unexpected ride. I’m a columnist who presents writing workshops, maybe the occasional keynote. But stand-up comedy? Terrifying! I am not that gal. Or am I? On a lark I did a Story Slam recently. The theme was…
NSNC 2015 – Indianapolis By Amanda Beam 2015 Conference Committee National Society of Newspaper Columnists Gentlehumans, start your engines. Only three months until the 2015 NSNC Conference. True story. Per square mile, Indiana has the most miles of interstate highways in the nation. All those streets will sure come in handy when columnists and bloggers…
NSNC 2015 — Indianapolis The National Society of Newspaper Columnists will hold its 2015 conference June 25-28 in Indianapolis. Here is a statement to the membership from NSNC President Jerry Zezima. Dear NSNC members: As our conference in Indianapolis approaches — and it will be here before we know it — I have heard from…
The National Society of Newspaper Columnists is holding its 39th annual conference June 25-28, 2015, in Indianapolis, with a theme of “Black & White and Read All Over.” The registration fee includes seven meals! The purchase buttons below go to a reliable, secure payment site. Member rate By May 31 – $299 (click button below)…
President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Beware the Ides of March. We have all heard this old saying and have promptly ignored it, especially if we’ve heard it in, say, November, because it raises an important question: What the hell is an ide? It could be used to say, “Ide…
you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist Did you catch any of the wonderful snippets of advice on Twitter recently tied to the hashtag #AdviceforYoungJournalists? Hundreds of folks participated from around the world. Some responses were annoying such as one posted by anti-newspaper dolt @jeffjarvis (“Don’t get old.”) Others were quite wonderful:…
Member Barry Schrader has published a second volume of Hybrid Corn & Purebred People, a collection of a hundred of his columns, run in the Daily Chronicle newspaper of DeKalb, Illinois. He’s considering an e-book edition. The first volume, issued in 2010, sold out in two months, the author says. The new volume is illustrated…
Have you or someone you love ever thought of selling real estate? NSNC Member Cathy Turney, a 25-year veteran of the business, just published Laugh Your Way to Real Estate Sales Success. In this humorous but positive exposé on the real estate sales profession, Cathy channels Dave Barry channeling Erma Bombeck with instructive true-life stories…
President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists William Shakespeare said, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Dorothy Parker did the Bard one better when she said, “Brevity is the soul of lingerie.” Since it is February, the shortest month of the year, I am going with another old saying: “Thirty days…
Art of Column Writing By Suzette Martinez Standring 2004-06 President National Society of Newspaper Columnists The French magazine Charlie Hebdo was notorious for its offensive satire on religion, and gunmen proclaiming revenge in the name of the Prophet Mohammed imposed the ultimate form of censorship. Death. Those who peddle in professional mockery now fear for…
Will Rogers Humanitarian Award Has your community suffered a natural disaster within the past year — flood, fire, tornado or earthquake? If so, did local news media get involved in coming to the aid of victims, during and after the event? Was there one individual columnist or other writer who performed outstanding service? That person…
President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists My best New Year’s resolution was made many New Years ago, a year after my worst New Year’s resolution, which was to develop a taste for Scotch. Looking for a beverage that would mark me as smooth, suave and sophisticated in restaurants (which did…
you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist It’s New Year’s Eve. I’m feeling good. Not because of the spirits but because I’ve had a wonderful year. One of my best ever at a newspaper. Hey, that last column I wrote. Wow. Loved it. Who wouldn’t? I wonder if it got any public…
Journalists, American ones at least, keep a rope line between reportage and commentary, and by extension between photojournalism and illustration. U.S. discussions on news concentrate on the presentation of factual material. If we accept, though, that journalism is inclusive in this continuum — and the major media practitioner societies show this by endorsing the “Je…
“A journalist’s most important and powerful tools are words, but even they are inadequate in expressing the horror we at the National Society of Newspaper Columnists feel about the attack on the staff of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. It also was an attack on freedom — and free speech — everywhere. “Thomas Jefferson said,…
Jeff Zaslow College Columnist Award Contest Each year, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists Education Foundation sponsors a unique scholarship for student columnists. College writers are encouraged to enter our 17th annual contest for collegiate newspaper columnists. The winner receives a $1,000 scholarship. Second- and third-place finalists receive certificates of achievement. In addition, the winner…
