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!

‘Vol’ Columnist Takes Top College Prize

NSNC Education Foundation

Jeff Zaslow College Columnist Award A new graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is the 2015 recipient of the Jeff Zaslow College Columnist Award of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists Education Foundation. RJ Vogt, writing for the campus newspaper The Daily Beacon, was chosen by best-selling novelist Michael Koryta, a former newspaper reporter.…

The Greatest Generation of Columnists

Photo of Ernie Pyle courtesy Ernie Pyle Legacy Foundation

President’s Message By Jerry Zezima President National Society of Newspaper Columnists “You had the ability,” a U.S. Marine sergeant once told Pvt. Art Buchwald, “to screw up a two-car funeral. Anything you touched ceased to function.” No, Ernie Pyle wasn’t the only newspaper columnist to serve in World War II. Buchwald, whose drill instructor, Cpl.…

2015 Column Contest Finalists Announced

Trophies image

Finalists in the 2015 annual column contest of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists have been chosen. Their third-, second- and first-place positions will be announced at the Awards Banquet during the 2015 NSNC conference on Saturday, June 27, at The Alexander in Indianapolis. Each contestant submitted three columns or blog posts that were published…

Schedule for Indy Conference

Water Clock, Children's Museum of Indianapolis

NSNC 2015 — Indianapolis Thursday, June 25, 2015 All events are confirmed. Updates to the schedule, however, will be clearly noted. 4 – 6 p.m. — Registration (check-in time for The Alexander is 3 p.m.) 3 – 5 — NSNC board meeting 6 – 9 — Optional group dinner at Scotty’s Brewhouse, meet in lobby…

Looking for Auction Items

NSNC 2015 — Indianapolis Groucho: I’ll show you how to make some real money. I’m gonna hold an auction in a little while at Cocoanut Manor. You know what an auction is, don’t you? Chico: Sure. I come over from Italy on the Atlantic Auction. Groucho: (pause) Let’s go ahead as if nothing happened. I…

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

1909 poster advertising the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (which opened in 1909). Public domain

NSNC 2015 — Indianapolis By Michelle Freed 2015 Conference Committee National Society of Newspaper Columnists Writers are a work in progress. Always. Times change, perspectives adjust, and the quest for that perfect sentence or paragraph never ends. As Ernest Hemingway said, “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”…