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!

Longtime Member Don McNay Dies at Age 57

Don McNay of Lexington, Kentucky, and New Orleans, a longtime member and former officer of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, died Sunday, May 29, 2016. He was 57. The Lexington Herald­ Leader reported he died suddenly in New Orleans. His widow, Karen Thomas McNay, is president of that city’s Ursuline Academy, a girls parochial school. Don reduced his…

Will Rogers Humanitarian Honoree for 2016

A California columnist with a long record of community service is this year’s Will Rogers Humanitarian Award honoree. George Waters of Pasadena, whose humor column is published in four California newspapers, will receive the award at the 40th annual conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, meeting in Los Angeles. The award ceremony will be held…

Georgian Voice Received National Honor

Celestine Sibley

This is the seventh 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 awarding of the 1999 Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award to Celestine Sibley was memorable for several reasons. She was the oldest recipient (age 85), the second…

The Write Stuff

IBM Selectric II typewriter

President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists I knew I wanted to be a writer in high school. My decision could be encapsulated in one word: algebra. I was never very good in subjects that required me to know the answers. Algebra was the worst. I was always better in subjects…

Take a Break. Clear Your Head.

Karen and Dave Lieber enjoy a whale-watching excursion during a Hawaiian vacation.

you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist One hard rule I always follow — until now — is that I never tell readers of my column anything about myself that would seem to put me above them. I don’t ever want to brag — or come off that way. Once I heard…

NSNC Nominees for 2016

The 2016 Nominating Committee of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists presents the following slate of nominees to two-year positions being left vacant June 30. President — Lisa Smith Molinari Vice President  — Mike Morin Director of Media — Bonnie Jean Feldkamp Scholarship Chair — Mike Leonard The board elections will be during the annual…