NSNC to Recognize 2026 Annual Columnist Contest Winners

Join or Renew Your NSNC Membership

Consider a Gift to the NSNC Education Foundation

NSNC to Recognize 2026 Annual Columnist Contest Winners

The National Society of Newspaper Columnists (NSNC) President and Board of Directors are pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Annual Columnist Contest at an online awards celebration on Thursday, July 23 at 7 p.m. EST. If you would like to join us for the awards ceremony, email nsncdirector@gmail.com for the Zoom link.

Join or Renew Your NSNC Membership

Welcome! Whether you write for newspapers, magazines, newsletters, trade journals or you create a podcast or write digital content, or you manage your own blog … whether you’re on staff, a freelancer, syndicated, self-syndicated or independent, if you write opinion or provide commentary, we invite you to join the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Join us at https://www.columnists.com/join-or-renew-membership/.

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

Alex’s Nose is Back to the Grindstone

By Lisa Smith Molinari NSNC President This time of year always reminds me of my mother coming into my room on the first day back to school, ruffling the tangled hair on my sleeping head, and singing her own version of mess call, “Soupy, soupy, soupy, cornbread, and beans!” It was the undeniable signal that…

Read more →

Gene Weingarten: Funny, Serious, and a Pyle Winner

Gene Weingarten

This is the 22nd in a series of articles about winners of the NSNC’s annual Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award. By Dave Astor NSNC Archivist It’s fitting that Gene Weingarten received our 2014 Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award just a year after Dave Barry won the 2013 Pyle prize. They’re both humorists (though Weingarten is…

Read more →

2018 NSNC CINCINNATI CONFERENCE SITE SELECTED

By Suzette Martinez Standring Next year, the City of Seven Hills will be easy on our bills! The NSNC is happy to announce that our 2018 conference will be held at the Kingsgate Marriott Conference Center at the University of Cincinnati, 151 Goodman Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45219.  Mark your calendars for Thursday-Sunday, June 7-10, 2018. The special…

Read more →

Ask Alex: Free Trial and Error

DEAR ALEX, My column runs in 24 newspapers across eight states; eleven are weekly and the others run periodically. Of those, only eight are paying. In my desire to grow my base, I offered my column to other papers at no cost. Without thinking, I did not put a time limit on that period of…

Read more →

Vacationing on Deadline: How NSNC’s Columnists Do It

By Lisa Smith Molinari NSNC President As columnists who must meet strict deadlines, we know that one of the best ways to combat burnout is to take a vacation. It’s good for us to release ourselves from the looming pressures of our next writing assignments for a week or two. But let’s be honest –…

Read more →

A Brief Q&A (Quips & Amusement) With 2013 Pyle Winner Dave Barry

Dave Barry

This is the 21th in a series of articles about winners of the NSNC’s annual Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award. By Dave Astor NSNC Archivist Four years after Dave Barry won our 2013 Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award, I thought I’d do a brief email Q&A with the renowned humorist. Of course, in this case,…

Read more →