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!

Who We’ll See in Washington, D.C.

NSNC 38th annual conference, see tinyurl.com/nsnc14dc

This column originally was published in the May 2014 edition of The Columnist, the members’ newsletter of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. By Dave Astor NSNC Archivist Even as many politicians are at each other’s throats, columnists and bloggers will coexist peacefully at the 38th annual National Society of Newspaper Columnists (NSNC) conference in…

Getting Potomac Fever

Pool coverage: President Ford with Liberty and pup, circa 1976, at White House pool.

This column originally was published in the May 2014 edition of The Columnist, the members’ newsletter of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. President’s Message By Eric Heyl President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Admit it. You’re intrigued. You probably assumed we were planning some special things for the upcoming NSNC conference, which will occur…

Virginian Receives Columnists’ 2014 Will Rogers Humanitarian Award

Will Rogers typing

A veteran Virginia journalist who has been called “the oppressed people’s correspondent” has been named the 2014 recipient of the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award. Michael Paul Williams, metro columnist and reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, will be honored at a ceremony in the U.S. Capitol on Friday, June 27, during the annual conference of the…

D.C. Conference Line-up

Washington Plaza Hotel

Here is a handy list of the speakers and topics for the 2014 conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, June 26-29, in Washington, D.C. The following speakers are confirmed, but sometimes life happens. This schedule [Update on 5/15/2014 with times, on 5/31 with minor time and title changes] will be updated as needed…

In the May Newsletter

Attention, NSNC members, in your emailboxes is the May 2014 edition of The Columnist. Most of our articles concern the June 26-29 conference, our 38th annual, this year in Washington, D.C. Who We’ll See in Washington, D.C. by Archivist Dave Astor Conference Line-up President’s Message: Getting Potomac Fever by Eric Heyl Virginian Receives Columnists’ 2014…

NSNC Honoring Brinkley’s Memory

Postcard of U.S. Capitol mid-19th century

This column originally was published in the April 2014 edition of The Columnist, the members’ newsletter of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. President’s Message By Eric Heyl President National Society of Newspaper Columnists He missed writing his column. In one of the last email exchanges I had with Joel Brinkley, he confided that he…