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2014 Will Rogers Humanitarian Award Taking Nominations

Will Rogers typing

Nominations are being accepted for the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award, presented annually by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists to recognize a writer whose work has positively affected readers’ lives and produced tangible humanitarian benefits. Click on these links for a history of the award and an annotated list of winners with biographies may be…

Gawk No Further

Locgo for Gawker.com

Opinion By Suzette Martinez Standring 2004-06 President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Let’s talk about needless savagery that poses as column writing. On a seesaw of best and worst, columnist Kathleen Parker of The Washington Post is a fulcrum. Hamilton Nolan of the Gawker lists her as one of “The Least Important Writers of 2013.”…

Your Pick: Top Columns of 2013?

Six of John Avlon's Top Columnists for 2012 - The Daily Beast

John Avlon again is asking his fellow NSNC members for their choices of best columns posted or published in 2013. John will compile the list — besides the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, he is combing social media as well as polling others, in addition to his own picks — and run it at year…

Columnists Expose ‘Privacy’ As Sitting Duck

HARTFORD, Conn. — The National Society of Newspaper Columnists on Sunday gave its annual Sitting Duck Award to “privacy,” but, thanks to the National Security Agency and government data mining, America almost certainly already knows that. The award goes each year to a person or subject that provides columnists with an easy topic to write…

NSNC: AP Records Raid Wrong

AP logo, The Associated Press

The board of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists condemns the Department of Justice’s deliberate disregard of the United States Constitution in its secret confiscation of telephonic records of offices and journalists of The Associated Press. The NSNC board demands strong disciplinary action against those responsible for violating the First Amendment in this manner. The…

2013-15 Slate of Officers Proposed

Columnists and bloggers: Get ready for a rollicking time, as two top humorists — Jerry Zezima and Bill Ervolino — have accepted nominations to run for top spots at the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. The NSNC board has accepted a slate of candidates for two-year terms plus a candidate to serve one year, due…

Bombeck Blog Seeks Contributors

Blog comments

Teri Rizvi, founder of the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop, writes: Ahoy, writers! Tim Bete, former EBWW director and author of Guide to Pirate Parenting, is one funny guy. If you missed his laugh-filled, insightful workshop, “How I Converted 7,000 Hours of Work into $10 Hard Cash and Then Turned a Single Stupid Idea Into $37,000,”…

Sitting Duck for 2012 — U.S. Economy

The 2012 Winner of the Infamous Sitting Duck Award is The American Economy. Why? The American economy – Nobody likes it, and you can find statistics to back up anything you want to say about it. The National Society of Newspaper Columnists created the Sitting Duck Award, an honor bestowed each year on the crème…

Columnists select Dave Barry for Lifetime Achievement Award

Dave Barry. Photo by daniel portnoy www.danielportnoy.com MACON, Ga. — Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist Dave Barry will be honored with the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. The announcement was made Thursday night, May 3, in Macon, Ga., at the top of the society’s 2012 national conference, where New York…

NSNC Board Meets

The Board of Directors of NSNC met May 3, 2012 in Macon, Georgia, prior to the annual conference. Ed Grisamore said he is happy to have us in Macon and expects to have 50-60 people at each conference event.  St. Petersburg FL was decided on at a previous board meeting as the site of the…

Meet Will Rogers’ Great-Grandson

A late – but most welcome – addition to the Macon 2012 program is Josh Rogers Leuty, a great-grandson of Will Rogers.   Leuty, 44, was raised on a dairy farm near Bakersfield, CA by parents Eric and Bette Rogers Brandin. His grandfather, California rancher Jim Rogers, was the last surviving offspring of Will and…

New Candidate on Slate of Officers

There’s a new candidate on the slate of officers proposed for election at the annual membership meeting on Sunday, May 6 in the closing session of the 2012 Conference in Macon, Ga. It’s none other than the outgoing president, Ben Pollock. When Tracy Beckerman withdrew as a nominee for the Web Editor position for personal…

Robert Benchley Society Humor Writing Competition

The Robert Benchley Society has opened its 2012 Humor Writing Competition. Entries to the contest should be “Benchleyesque (in the sense of reflecting the Benchley style and humor).” Comedian Arte Johnson will serve as celebrity judge and present awards at the Ninth Robert Benchley Society International Annual Gathering, to be held this autumn in Los Angeles. The deadline…

Candidates for Board of Directors

NSNC today announced the slate of candidates recommended by the nominating committee for 2012-2014 offices. President Ben Pollock made the announcedment in an email to the Board. The candidate for WebEditor later changed when Tracy Beckerman decided not to run for office. • Larry Cohen, President, several clients, with business humor at http://www.hartfordbusiness.com, search for…

NSNC Board Meets

The NSNC Board of Directors met online the evening of February 13 to discuss the business of the Society. Luenna Kim, NSNC Director, reported that membership renewals are coming in and she expects an increase later as people send in writing contest entries. Rose Valentia and Bob Haught are busy working on an informative booklet to direct…

Will Rogers Award – Deadline March 1st

Nominations are now being accepted for the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award, presented annually by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists to recognize outstanding service in civic journalism. Deadline is March 1, 2012. The award was established in 1999 to honor a columnist whose work has positively affected readers’ lives and produced tangible benefits for the…

Erma Bombeck Writing Competion opens

The Erma Bombeck Writing Competion opens Tuesday, January 3. New to the contest this year is a $15 entry fee and a $500 prize to four winners, along with a complimentary registration to the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop April 19-21. There are two categories, humor and human interest., but entries are limited to one article…