National Society of Newspaper Columnists Announces Winners of Annual Contest

By: E&P Staff Columnists from Grand Rapids and San Francisco were the main honorees at the National Society of Newspaper Columnists' column-writing contest for 2009.

Tom Rademacher of The Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press won first place in the general interest category for newspapers with circulation over 100,000, while Katy St. Clair of San Francisco's SF Weekly took home first prize in the humor category for large papers.

The winners were announced on June 27 at the NSNC's 33rd annual conference in Ventura, Calif. First, second, and third-place winners received cash prizes of $300, $200, and $100 respectively, along with certificates.

This awards were divided into seven categories -- four for general interest and humor columns above or below 100,000 circulation. The fifth was the Herb Caen award for best notes-style column, won this year by Mark Lane of the Daytona Beach (Fla.) Daily News-Journal.

The two online categories were expanded by the NSNC to permit more writers to enter, including those who don't write for established newspaper Web sites. In addition, a seventh award for bloggers was introduced.

The award for online column went to Kelli Wheeler and Jen Hall of The Sacramento Bee, while the blog award was given to Patricia Coakley of singleforareason.com.

For the full list of winners, go here. Samples of the winning columns are available here.