This is the 14th 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 The situation surrounding Art Buchwald made 2006 perhaps the most memorable year for the Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award. Because the renowned political satirist was expected…
Category: Newsletter
Selected articles from the NSNC newsletter; only members get the entire contents of the monthly newsletter
FAKE NEWS = EYEBALLS = $$$
by Suzette Suzette Martinez Standring NSNC Past President Do I have to “Snopes” every shocking headline nowadays? For readers many fake news sites look legit, just like those taken down by Google:baltimoregazette.com, denverguardian.com, as well as parasitic domain-named sites such as USAToday.com.co and WashingtonPost.com.co However, news hoaxes will reappear in other forms fueled by ad networks…
‘Forever’ Advice From 2005 Pyle Winner Pete Hamill
This is the 13th 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 Two things columnists should avoid: “You can’t hurt anybody who can’t hurt you back, and you can’t make people dumber.” That’s one of the comments Pete…
The Interview, R.I.P.
by Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist Like you, I have many books on my shelf about writing. One that I loved when I was starting out 40 years ago is about the art of the interview. It’s a dying art. These days, I don’t get to do many interviews. My sources usually don’t want…
PyleWinners Steve Lopez’s 2004 Pyle Appearance Preceded His 2016 LA Appearance
This is the 12th 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 Twelve years before columnist Steve Lopez gave a memorably seriocomic speech at our 2016 conference in Los Angeles, he was at our 2004 conference in New…
Suit Up For Writing Online: Word Count Matters
by Bonnie Jean Feldkamp NSNC Director of Media There’s a reason Erma Bombeck and Art Buchwald columns were under 500 words and Ernie Pyle kept his to 700. It works. Not only is that what many editors want, it’s also what most people are willing to read. Humor columnists and opinion bloggers, in particular, must…
A Pyle Winner Who Actually Knew Pyle
This is the 11th 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 I was fortunate to attend every NSNC conference from 1993 to 2002, so I got to see the first ten presentations of the Ernie Pyle…
Always Watching
By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist Reminders came my way that people are always watching you, the columnist. We’re always on stage. Even when we think we’re not. The world is big, but the community is so small. Last week, a man wrote me the following: “Mr. Lieber, you most likely do not remember me,…
Robert L. Haught Receives 2016 NSNC Legacy Award
One of the highlights of the June conference in Los Angeles was the presentation of our Legacy Award to Robert L. (Bob) Haught. The prize honors NSNC members for extraordinary service to the organization — and Bob was a richly deserving recipient. He served 11 years on our board (eight as newsletter editor and three…
Honoree, Helper, and Hawaiian Shirt Bidder
This is the 10th 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 When Chuck Stone received our Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002, he said he had worked as a reporter, editorial writer, and editor, but “being…
Michael P. Ramirez: One Cartoon is Worth a Thousand Words
By Suzette Martinez Standring 2004-06 NSNC president One picture is worth a thousand words. Or think of it this way: one editorial cartoon is worth a thousand-word column. At the Hotel Angeleno in June, Michael P. Ramirez said, “A reporter is a purveyor of fact. Editorial cartoonists just go back and shoot the wounded.” The two-time…