Selected articles from the NSNC newsletter; only members get the entire contents of the monthly newsletter
By Ben S. Pollock NSNC President With certainty, the renowned physicist Garrison Keillor noted in his radio spot The Writer’s Almanac: “On this date [Feb. 23] in 1927, physicist Werner Heisenberg first described his Uncertainty Principle in a letter. In a nutshell, the Uncertainty Principle states that the more precisely we can determine a particle’s…
you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Fort Worth Star-Telegram Are you familiar with Klout.com? The website says it rates your “online influence” on a scale of 1 to 100 “based on your ability to drive action in social networks. We process this data on a daily basis to give you an updated Klout score…
Headline items: “Heisenberg? Not Bad, Heisen You? by Ben S. Pollock, NSNC President “A Writer’s Meditation” by Suzette Martinez Standring “Humor, Politics Mix at Macon” by Ed Grisamore, 2012 Conference Chair Plus “What Are You Writing?”, “Columnews” and “Remembering Jeff Zaslow”
Suzette Martinez Standring, past president of NSNC, recently announced the release of a new CD for writers. “For a long time, I’ve used guided imagery exercises in my writing workshops because relaxation unlocks the imagination. Due to demand, I’ve produced a unique CD with two guided imagery exercises.” she says. Relax With Suzette is a…
Ben S. Pollock President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Spring — OK, this is winter but I’m an optimist — is busy-time for the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. • We’re halfway through gathering entries for the annual Column Contest. Have you sent yours in? Bloggers: You can’t win if you don’t enter. Like…
a rundown on NSNC activities by President Ben Pollock, a provocative challenge for “you, the columnist” from Dave Lieber, an exciting update on the 2012 conference by Ed Grisamore, plus news and information about contests, books and other happenings about your fellow columnists, including a surprise about NSNC’s newest member. Be sure to open your…
By Ben Pollock NSNC President . Who among us still owns a typewriter? My Smith-Corona manual portable that saw me through high school and college is in the attic, but it works. On a desk for addressing envelopes is a bulky Royal office manual. I bought it when the Arkansas newspaper for which I interned…
By Suzette Martinez Standring, NSNC past president Do you ever feel like you’re writing the same old, same old? I did, and I needed a new way to look at my work. So naturally, I went to jail. No, I wasn’t convicted of anything. Last fall I volunteered to teach a meditation and journaling program…
Start off the New Year on a good note by opening your NSNC newsletter, which is emailed to you the first of every month, beginning with January 2012. In this issue, you’ll find: President Ben Pollock says from typewriters to personal computers is not such a big leap after all. Suzette Standring needed a new…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Where’s the Sin in Synchronicity? By Ben S. Pollock NSNC President “How can there be any sin in sincere? “Where is the good in goodbye?” — “Sincere” by Meredith Willson in The Music Man It may be yet another way of stalling the labor of writing, but I’m inspired when I chance upon quotes from…
Look inside your November eColumnist to find: President Pollock draws on quotations to offer some rules for writing. Suzette Standring tells how a best-selling author finds unique stories. Southern charm abounds in 2012 conference site. Plus news from board meetings on membership, the contest and the scholarship program. Also see what your colleagues are writing…
Here’s Your Best Column Ever By Dave Lieber Fort Worth Star-Telegram Columnist http://www.yankeecowboy.com/ Somehow very few of us in NSNC are included in the new book, Deadline Artists: America’s Greatest Newspaper Columns. So in my last column I announced my own version – NSNC Members’ Greatest Columns. I asked for your…
By Ben S. Pollock President, National Society of Newspaper Columnists Your president is looking out for your welfare. Thank me later. Tracy Beckerman, chairman of the Social Media Committee, although an NSNC member for several years, still is trying to figure us out. Just before Labor Day, the new board member e-mailed me: “I would…
