NSNC 2026 Columnist Contest - Now Open

Sunshine Week March 15-21, 2026

Consider a Gift to the NSNC Education Foundation

Join NSNC and Reap the Benefits!

NSNC 2026 Columnist Contest - Now Open

Contest submissions now open! We are accepting entries from columnists, bloggers, and serial essayists  for our 2026 Annual Columnist Contest (for work published in 2025). We will accept entries from columnists, bloggers, and serial essayists published in 2025.  Everyone is welcome to submit. You don’t have to be an NSNC member.

Sunshine Week March 15-21, 2026

We’re counting down to #SunshineWeek 2026, March 15-21. Together, we champion #OpenRecords and #OpenGovernment nationwide March 15-21. #FOIA #transparency. Free resources: sunshineweek.org

Consider a Gift to the NSNC Education Foundation

The National Society of Newspaper Columnists Education Foundation is a tax-exempt charitable organization [501(c)3] devoted to the education and training of new and experienced columnists everywhere. Donate here: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/NSNCEdFnd

Join NSNC and Reap the Benefits!

We are excited for What’s in-store for NSNC members this year. We are gearing up to launch the NSNC Annual Columnist Contest on January 15, so you’ll want to be sure your membership is up-to-date. Also, if you have ideas, suggestions, etc., please share them with our President Meredith Cummings at meredithcummings@gmail.com or Executive Director Ginny McCabe at nsncdirector@gmail.com. Thank you for your support of NSNC!

Poynter Seeks Journalist Entrepreneurs

Are you a budding entrepreneur with a great online business idea related to journalism that you’d like to get off the launch pad? You may have an idea and strategy, even a domain, but you don’t know how to make it a long-term success.  Pitch it to Poynter. The Poynter Institute is a school for…

O’Connor Honored by Columbia Grad School of Journalism

Brian J. O’Connor, personal finance columnist for The Detroit News, has been named winner of the Christopher J. Welles Memorial Prize at Columbia University. The award goes to an exemplary piece of business journalism produced in the last 12 months by an alumnus of the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship.  O’Connor, a Knight-Bagehot Fellow from the class of…

But Seriously, Folks

Ben Pollock

    President’s Message  By Ben S. Pollock NSNC President   “Defining and analyzing humor is a pastime of humorless people.” — Robert Benchley    To avoid betraying my idol, Mr. Benchley, I’ll rationalize. This is not analysis but a lesson on creating humor. Books I’ve been reading have given me a clue on crafting…

PenPals for Haitian Journalists

Keyboard

The Haiti News Project — has launched a penpal service between journalists in Haiti and the United States. The project is  an effort by press associations and news organizations to provide equipment, support and training after the island’s devastating earthquake in January. The idea was originated by Haitian reporters working with Reuters correspondent Joseph Guy…

New Book from Kelly Kazek

Kelly Kazek, National Society of Newspaper Columnists member, has authored a new book. Kelly Kazek is editor of the News Courier (AL), the only daily newspaper in Athens and Limestone County. She has researched and written about the history of these communities for most of her 24-year career in journalism.   Please join her in…

Majority of Americans Distrust Media per Gallup

The majority of Americans (57%) say they have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly according to the recent annual update on trust in the mass media by Gallup. This finding is consistant with the findings of the previous three years. Trust in the media is even…