Selected articles from the NSNC newsletter; only members get the entire contents of the monthly newsletter
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…
Lifetime Achievers This is the sixth in a series of articles about recipients of the NSNC’s annual Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award. By Dave Astor Archivist National Society of Newspaper Columnists As I prepared to write this latest article in my chronological series about NSNC Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award recipients, I was thrilled to…
Art of Column Writing By Suzette Martinez Standring 2004-06 NSNC president Syndication as an income stream, how do you break in? I am not referring to self-syndication or to traditional syndicates, such as Tribune Media or Creators Syndicate. Rather, what are newsgroup syndicates [traditionally called news services for multiproperty media corporations] looking for now? For…
President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists (SCENE: The office of Ron Howard at Imagine Entertainment in Beverly Hills, California. It’s noon. The door opens.) SECRETARY “Mr. Zezima is here to see you, Mr. Howard.” HOWARD “Who’s Mr. Zezima?” SECRETARY “That newspaper columnist who won the charity raffle to pitch his…
Lifetime Achievers This is the fifth in a series of articles about recipients of the NSNC’s annual Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award. By Dave Astor Archivist National Society of Newspaper Columnists Was Williamsburg, Virginia, a good locale for presenting Washington Post political columnist David Broder with the 1997 National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ Ernie Pyle…
President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Life, goes an old saying, begins at 40. When I passed that milestone, which was easier than passing a kidney stone, I wondered: “Have I just wasted 39 years?” The answer: “Who the hell knows? But if life begins now, I am going to…
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…
Lifetime Achievers This is the fourth in a series of articles about winners of the NSNC’s annual Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award. By Dave Astor Archivist National Society of Newspaper Columnists How much impact do columnists really have? Political/social satirist Art Hoppe answered that question after receiving the National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ Ernie Pyle…
President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Erma Bombeck was the mother of all humorists. Also the mother of three children, Erma had a legion of fans in women who identified with her funny take on what she called “the second-oldest profession.” But she didn’t appeal only to women. A lot…
Art of Column Writing By Suzette Martinez Standring NSNC 2004-06 President Writing brings satisfaction, but are enough people reading our columns? A negative twist to Saturday Night Live’s Stuart Smalley plays in my head, “My ‘likes’ aren’t good enough. My blog posts aren’t smart enough and, doggone it, my Twitter feed is too low.” Recently,…
President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Now that 2016 is here, and we have all recovered from New Year’s Eve, which means we are ready to repeat the conviviality in the hospitality suite at the NSNC conference in Los Angeles in June, I would like you to consider the year’s…
Lifetime Achievers This is the third in a series of articles about winners of the NSNC’s annual Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award. By Dave Astor Archivist National Society of Newspaper Columnists As endless gun violence and contemptible political statements dominate the news cycle, what William Raspberry told the National Society of Newspaper Columnists in 1995…
Member Ship By Amanda Beam Membership Chair National Society of Newspaper Columnists Writers execute their craft alone mostly. It’s the nature of the beast. Our minds find it hard to work with the drumming and droning of others’ lives continuing around us. Thoughts squirrel about, running rabid until a yelling child or yelping dog forces…
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…
Member Ship By Amanda Beam Membership Chair National Society of Newspaper Columnists ‘Tis the season for renewal. Spiritual renewal. Mental renewal. Even a bit of physical renewal, especially after eating all those pies and candies and carbs at those Thanksgiving meals. Why not resolve to add another renewal to your list, one that will only…
President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists (With no apologies to Clement C. Moore, who is dead and can’t sue me.) • • • ‘Twas the time before conference for the NSNC, And members looked forward to the confab with glee. Yes, we would have it in sunny L.A., But what…
Lifetime Achievers This is the second in a series of articles about recipients of the NSNC’s Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award. By Dave Astor Archivist National Society of Newspaper Columnists During her illustrious career, Molly Ivins won the admiration of countless readers, prizes such as the National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ 1994 Lifetime Achievement Award,…
