Category: Newsletter

Selected articles from the NSNC newsletter; only members get the entire contents of the monthly newsletter

History of NSNC Through My T-Shirts

you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist I’m so excited about seeing everybody at the 2015 Indianapolis National Society of Newspaper Columnists conference that I started going through my wardrobe. What to wear? So many NSNC related T-shirts. Then I realized, I could tell the story of our group through my T-shirts. (Hey,…

Mark Twain’s Hero

Artemus Ward, pen name of Charles Farrar Brown, 1834-67

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,”…

When Stand-Up and Column Writing Meet

Suzette Martinez Standring

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…

March Forth for Froth

Exterior of The Alexander, Indianapolis hotel

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…

What’s Your #AdviceforYoungJournalists?

Official Twitter logo

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:…

Short Takes

Pocket protector with pens

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…

Silence? Never. But Do We Shush Ourselves?

NSNC is honored to stand among these journalism organizations. Graphic courtesy of the Society of Professional Journalists.

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…

Filling the Tipple Jar

Wall display of cuckoo clocks

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…

Resolved: Batter Up

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…

Ado Run Run or Much Adieu

IBM Selectric II typewriter

Art of Column Writing By Suzette Martinez Standring 2004-06 President National Society of Newspaper Columnists It’s much ado about nothing. Or perhaps I should say “adieu.” Time Magazine’s Fourth Annual Word Banishment Poll is all high and mighty about what words to ban in 2015. Wordsmiths at Time please take note: The primary meaning of…

The Season of Renewal

President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists This month’s message is brought to you by the Jerry’s Kids College, Wedding and Adorable Granddaughter Fund, a nonprofit organization so disorganized that it doesn’t make a profit. I wouldn’t want to see other organizations that are close to my heart (and other vital…

‘Good Evening, Miss Manners, and All the Ships at Sea’

In September 2013, Judith Martin was joined by her children Nicholas Martin and Jacobina Martin, both of Chicago, as co-writers of the Miss Manners column.

President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Gentle Readers: I am writing from my manor in the manner of Miss Manners, using all manner of mannerly ways to say that Judith Martin (aka the aforementioned Miss Manners) has kindly and graciously accepted our invitation to attend the NSNC conference in Indianapolis…

Get Your Pulitzer Entry ready

Pulitzer Prizes logo

you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist Are you getting your Pulitzer contest entry ready for 2014? I’m not kidding. I just looked at the winners for commentary going back to 1970. No active NSNC member has ever won. Sure, plenty of Pulitzer winners have attended our conferences as special guests when…

Oh Cliché Can You See?

President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists With apologies to Frank Sullivan, the late, little-known but wonderful humorist who created Mr. Arbuthnot, the cliché expert, I am happy to introduce Mr. Lingo, the NSNC’s new, unsalaried language guru. Q: Welcome, Mr. Lingo. You are an expert in the use of clichés that…

To Blog or Not to Blog, That Is the Question

Suzette Standring and Dr. Henry Lee

Art of Column Writing By Suzette Martinez Standring 2004-06 President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Dinner with forensic scientist Dr. Henry C. Lee, blogging and “what’s-it all-about-Alfie” all came together for me one night. You see, a question gnaws at the edges of my gray matter. Can one have writing success without a vibrant blog?…

Ready for Life in the Small Screen World?

Old rotary phone with notebook

you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist I’m taking the long view with you, the columnist, about the future of journalism and column writing. The long view now is 18 months away. Remember when it was five years? In this briefest of essays, I was prepared to argue that all the efforts…

Role Models

Robert Benchley, circa 1935

President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists I write an alleged humor column (I have to say “alleged” because I am not above suing even myself) for a simple reason: I am spectacularly unqualified to do anything else. I knew I wanted to be a writer in high school, not just…