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!

Voices From the Maelstrom

By Chris CarosaNSNC President While you’ve been busy working away, I’ve been reading for you.Sure, I know plenty of you read just as much as you write, but what are you reading? Are you reading to hone your craft? Or are you reading to survive another day.I’m doing the latter. For you. And for me.…

Value Your Work. Value Your Industry

A rebuttal to James Haught’s article ‘Low-Pay Writing’ By Marianne Willburn NSNC Member A bottle of “Writers’ Tears” Irish whiskey has sat unmolested on my desk since it was given to me ten months ago by a friend at Christmas. Though he handed it over insisting that a garden columnist had no need of such a…

Low-Pay Writing

Moliere said: “Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for the love of it. Then you do it for a few friends. And finally you do it for money.”

The NSNC’s New Veep Has a Résumé Quite Deep

By Dave Astor NSNC Archivist Tony Norman, a longtime Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist and former NSNC treasurer, is now back on our board as vice president. In this email Q&A from September 17, Tony seriously/humorously/eloquently discusses everything from the NSNC to his unusually varied, multi-award-winning P-G career – including why he left a music beat to…