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!

Barnes’ Military Family Collection Out as eBook

Shakespeare and Company bookshop, Paris

Terri Barnes, a National Society of Newspaper Columnists member, says that Elva Resa Publishing of St. Paul, Minnesota, on Oct 12 released her column collection Spouse Calls: Messages From a Military Life as an ebook edition. It was released in paperback in March 2014. Terri’s column “Spouse Calls” runs in Stars and Stripes. The volume,…

Mark Segal Publishes Memoir

Mark Segal, a National Society of Newspaper Columnists member, has written a memoir And Then I Danced: Traveling the Road to LGBT Equality. It was published October 6 by Akashic Books. According to a press release, Mark is founder of the Philadelphia Gay News; co-founder and former president of the National Gay Press Association and the…

Raising Caen to Prize-Winning Status

Herb Caen

Lifetime Achievers This is the first in a series of articles about the winners of the NSNC’s annual Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award, starting with the initial recipient in 1993. By Dave Astor Archivist National Society of Newspaper Columnists Twenty years before National Society of Newspaper Columnists conference attendees visited the Mark Twain House &…

The Art of Giving Thanks

President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists In this season of thanksgiving, so called because it’s the season in which we celebrate Thanksgiving, I would like to thank Art Buchwald for inspiring me to go into journalism and write a humor column, which has spared me the shame of getting a…

What’s Your Digital IQ Score?

you, the columnist By Dave Lieber Dallas Morning News columnist Take this quick digital skills test and see how well prepared you, the columnist, are to serve your audience as a digital journalist in the 21st century. Ready to begin? Give yourself two points for every YES answer. Do you have your own website? Do…

No Cons, Just Pros for Protégé Program

Member Ship By Amanda Beam Membership Chair National Society of Newspaper Columnists Fire baptizes those of us new to the writing business nowadays. Like risk-taking toddlers, we jump in feet first into the profession without checking if the opportunities float in hot lava or chocolate sauce. Part of the problem stems from a lack of…