Columnists Have Write Stuff

By: Dave Astor The author of "The Media Monopoly" said columnists are an important "human voice" in an age of conglomeration and impersonal technology.

"Columnists have always been needed, but they're needed even more today," said Ben Bagdikian, speaking at the National Society of Newspaper Columnists (NSNC) conference in San Francisco. "Readers identify with columns in a highly personal way. I get engaged with George Will or Molly Ivins whether I agree or disagree with them."

The former Washington Post editor added that newspaper executives, in today's world of bottom-line journalism, shouldn't pull the plug on new columnists too quickly. "A column takes time to hit its stride and build readership," Bagdikian said.

Chronicle Speakers in San Francisco

Two longtime San Francisco Chronicle columnists, Jon Carroll and Adair Lara, also addressed the conference.
Carroll discussed several reasons why people become columnists: they were good reporters, they worked at a newspaper for a long time, they're experts in a certain subject, they're in a demographic group a paper wants to attract, or they were removed from a high position at a paper and given the column as a consolation prize. How did Carroll get a column? "I saved the son of the publisher from drowning," he joked.

The speaker added that columnists need to take chances. "Anyone afraid of looking ridiculous shouldn't be writing a column," Carroll said. "It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission." But many editors and publishers "hate failure," he continued. "You're supposed to start out perfect and get better!"

Lara's column is often personal, but she still comes up with scoops. "I was the first to break the story that my husband was slipping me decaffeinated coffee for six months," she quipped. More seriously, Lara said a personal column should have universal elements. "When it's working right, it's not a window, it's a mirror in which readers see themselves," she explained.

Awards Awarded, Honorees Honored

Also, the NSNC gave its Lifetime Achievement Award to Nat Hentoff of Newspaper Enterprise Association; its Will Rogers Humanitarian Award (for work benefiting the community) to Tim Chavez of The Tennessean in Nashville; its 2001 college columnist scholarship to University of Georgia graduate Andrew DeMillo; and general-interest, humor, items, business, sports, and online awards to about 40 other columnists. And the NSNC's Sitting Duck Award, which honors a good target for columnists, went to the recently bumbling Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Several officers were re-elected or elected, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Tony Norman, who joins the NSNC board as treasurer.

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SITE HAS PIX AND GRAPHICS ...
... From N.Y. Times, Other Sources

The New York Times Photo and Graphics Service has a new Web site at http://www.nytimages.com.
It offers images from The New York Times and nine New York Times News Service partners -- including The Boston Globe, Cox News Service, and Hearst Newspapers.

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MICKEY MOUSE ART NOT SOLD
Big Disappointment For Museum

Early Mickey Mouse sketches appraised at $3-million-plus failed to draw a bid of more than $500,000 at a June 8 continuation of an auction to benefit the debt-ridden International Museum of Cartoon Art in Boca Raton, Fla.
Museum founder Mort Walker said he felt "profound disappointment" at the auction result. "Unfortunately, we are now forced to re-examine all available options," added the "Beetle Bailey" creator. "We hope to announce our future plans within a few weeks."

Walker said the 73-year-old drawings contain the first known sketches of Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

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COURT MAKES SPLIT RULING ...
... In Ted Rall's E-Impersonation Suit

A New York court ruled to keep one count and dismiss four others in cartoonist-writer Ted Rall's suit against illustrator Danny Hellman for impersonating him in e-mail messages (E&P Online, Sept. 25).

Rall, who's with Universal Press Syndicate, said he was pleased that the New York State Supreme Court appellate division is allowing him to sue for libel per se -- which "has always been the crux of this case," he stated on his Web site.

Meanwhile, Hellman was pleased with the dismissal of four other counts -- including libel, injurious falsehood, violation of civil-rights law, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. "From where I sit, it's four big positives," he said.

The case might go to trial later this year or in 2002.

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ET CETERA ...

Tony Snow has ended his 8-year-old Creators Syndicate opinion column to concentrate on his TV work for Fox News. ...

Tribune Media Services and the TMS-owned Los Angeles Times Syndicate International have added a column by professional triathlete and author Eric Harr to the weekly Health and Fitness News Service. ...

A column called "Digital Woman's Monthly" is being syndicated by Cyberwalker Media. ...

Universal Press Syndicate editorial cartoonist and columnist Ted Rall has written "2024," an NBM-published graphic novel that uses the structure of George Orwell's "1984" to comment on contemporary social trends. Rall also has a new cartoon collection called "Search and Destroy" from Andrews McMeel Publishing. ...

Other new AMP cartoon books include "Are We an 'Us'? Zits Sketchbook 4" by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman of King Features Syndicate, "Motherhood Is Not for Wimps: Baby Blues Scrapbook No. 14" by Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman of King, a reissue of "Action Figure! The Life and Times of Doonesbury's Uncle Duke" by Garry Trudeau of Universal, and a new edition of "Why Dogs Are Better Than Men" by Jennifer Berman. ...

"Pluggers" by Gary Brookins of TMS again finished first in a comics survey conducted by the Greensburg, Pa., Tribune-Review. The next three finishers were the King-distributed "Beetle Bailey" by Mort Walker, "Blondie" by Dean Young and Denis Lebrun, and "The Lockhorns" by Bunny Hoest and John Reiner. Rounding out the top five was "For Better or For Worse" by Lynn Johnston of United Feature Syndicate. ...

King columnist Heloise presented the first America Press Institute Heloise Fellowship to Tillamook, Ore., Headlight-Herald Community Editor Linda Ediger. ...

Self-syndicated "Ask the Advice Goddess" columnist Amy Alkon has won a Los Angeles Press Club first-place award. ...

min magazine's "New Media Top 50" includes companies such as Clickability and ScreamingMedia. ...

Online syndicator Context Media has announced version 2.0 of its "Interchange Platform." ...

Copley News Service is offering editors an "electronic media kit" on compact disc. It includes samples of all Copley products and a link at the bottom of each page that takes viewers to the syndicate's Web site.