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!

Washington Writer Wows in Williamsburg

David Broder

Lifetime Achievers This is the fifth 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 Was Williamsburg, Virginia, a good locale for presenting Washington Post political columnist David Broder with the 1997 National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ Ernie Pyle…

The Magnificent Seven Conferences

Hilton Hartford Hotel skyline postcard

President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Life, goes an old saying, begins at 40. When I passed that milestone, which was easier than passing a kidney stone, I wondered: “Have I just wasted 39 years?” The answer: “Who the hell knows? But if life begins now, I am going to…

Zezima Delivers Third Book

Book jacket of Jerry Zezima's 2016 book Grandfather Knows Best

President Jerry Zezima in January published his third book Grandfather Knows Best: A Geezer’s Guide To Life, Immaturity, And Learning How To Change Diapers All Over Again. His previous books are Leave It to Boomer and The Empty Nest Chronicles. Jerry claims that “all of them are crimes against literature.” Grandfather Knows Best is based…

Walk Where Will Rogers Walked – and Wrote and Roped

Will Rogers' ranch house, now in Will Rogers State Historic Park in Pacific Palisades

#NSNC16 – Los Angeles By Robert Haught We walked in the footsteps of Ernie Pyle when we met in 2010 at Bloomington, Indiana, where he studied journalism at Indiana University. We imagined looking over the shoulder of Mark Twain as he penned the words to “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and other classics when we…

What’s Your Thang?

Hedda Hopper

you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist What’s your thang? Do you have something that you’re known for? What kind of writer are you? How do you explain what you do at parties? This comes up because decades after her death, columnist Hedda Hopper came back to life as actress Helen Mirren…

College Students Live for Deadlines and Ramen Noodles

NSNC Education Foundation

NSNC Scholarship 2016 By Mike Leonard Scholarship Chairman Having been an adjunct in journalism at Indiana University for nearly 30 years, I can say with authority that there are bright, committed and good college columnists out there, and they tend to flip an assignment on a dime. Deadline Wednesday? Knock it off Tuesday night. So…