{"id":306,"date":"2007-04-18T11:09:36","date_gmt":"2007-04-18T16:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/index.php\/2007\/04\/18\/national-columnists-day\/"},"modified":"2011-04-18T18:23:37","modified_gmt":"2011-04-18T23:23:37","slug":"national-columnists-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2007\/04\/national-columnists-day\/","title":{"rendered":"National Columnists’ Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

On April 18, 1945, a Japanese sniper took out Ernie Pyle during a Pacific Island skirmish. Pyle was a beloved newspaperman, whose columns were anticipated by millions of readers of hundreds of newspapers. You couldn’t say that about a lot of journalists then, much less now.<\/p>\n

Most war reporting was conducted at the officer level, at the Defense Department in Washington or when correspondents went to the front, with generals and admirals. Pyle marched and sailed and flew, mainly with soldiers but also sailors, marines and airmen. He wrote up<\/a> their individual stories, always with names and home towns.<\/p>\n

We of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists have called April 18 National Columnists’ Day since 1995 in Pyle’s honor<\/a> and memory. The purpose is use the moment “to reflect on the way newspaper columnists connect, educate, comfort, encourage, celebrate, outrage and occasionally even amuse readers. …”<\/p>\n

Pyle had his way, and there are many others. Yet in the 1930s he wrote a different column in a different style. It’s worth noting that before World War II, that column showed Pyle roaming through America, in a way similar to the late CBS newsman Charles Kuralt’s “On the Road.” The variety further proves the point.<\/p>\n

In the first months of 2007, we have lost Art Buchwald and Molly Ivins. In the last week, Kurt Vonnegut died. Late in life the story writer penned a column for the magazine In These Times<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The next generation of columnists and the set now emerging from schools face a different set of media responsibilities for an electronically connected world.<\/p>\n

What would Ernie do? -30-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On April 18, 1945, a Japanese sniper took out Ernie Pyle during a Pacific Island skirmish. Pyle was a beloved newspaperman, whose columns were anticipated by millions of readers of hundreds of newspapers. You couldn’t say that about a lot of journalists then, much less now. Most war reporting was conducted at the officer level, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[29,38],"class_list":["post-306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-course-of-words","tag-columnist","tag-ernie-pyle"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2143,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2010\/07\/uphold-or-hold-up-standards\/","url_meta":{"origin":306,"position":0},"title":"Uphold, or Hold Up, Standards","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"July 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"BLOOMINGTON, Ind., Sunday, July 11, 2010 -- Indiana University feels bigger than my hometown's University of Arkansas. Yep, 1,933 acres versus 345 acres. It has a journalism school not a department, a music school not a department. It is a handsome forested campus, full of sculptures (even a huge Calder)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bloomers"","block_context":{"text":"Bloomers","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/nsnc\/bloomington-2010\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"NSNC Oath of Office","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Swearing-in-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1115,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2009\/04\/newspaper-stat-nsnc-stet\/","url_meta":{"origin":306,"position":1},"title":"Newspaper Stat, NSNC Stet","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"April 18, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"There's been e-talk among the membership about renaming the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. I was for it, liked some of the proposals, but now I'm agin it. It's not that I'm sore that my suggestion, International House of Toast (nod to Bob and Ray) was ignored. We would be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Course of Words"","block_context":{"text":"The Course of Words","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/course-of-words\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":328,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2007\/06\/down-to-the-wire\/","url_meta":{"origin":306,"position":2},"title":"Down to the Wire","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"June 23, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"PHILADELPHIA -- The final sessions of the 2007 conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists were the most traditional. In panel discussion format, largely avoided until this morning, perennial subjects were again addressed: techniques, ethics, books and technology. This will be brief, a note or two on each. After\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Philadelphia Phreedom"","block_context":{"text":"Philadelphia Phreedom","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/nsnc\/philadelphia-2007\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2885,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2011\/06\/roger-and-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":306,"position":3},"title":"Roger and Me","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"June 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Roger Ebert receives the 2011 Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists A\u00a0version of this\u00a0Brick is published at columnists.com. DETROIT, Saturday, June 25, 2011 -- Following is the acceptance speech of Roger Ebert for the NSNC's Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award. Ebert's physical condition prevented\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "I'm Your Vehicle, Detroit"","block_context":{"text":"I'm Your Vehicle, Detroit","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/nsnc\/detroit-2011\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Roger Ebert accepts NSNC Lifetime Achievement Award 25 June 2011","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Roger-Ebert-062511-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2130,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2010\/07\/compassion-works-so-does-anger\/","url_meta":{"origin":306,"position":4},"title":"Compassion Works. So Does Anger","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"July 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"BLOOMINGTON, Ind., Saturday night, July 10, 2010 -- The learnin' part of the Saturday portion of the annual conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists ended at noon, unless you're a columnist (published or not). The usual field trip either can be written about or learned from. Lunch and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bloomers"","block_context":{"text":"Bloomers","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/nsnc\/bloomington-2010\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Grounds of Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Holy-Grounds-300x225.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5465,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2016\/10\/will-rogers\/","url_meta":{"origin":306,"position":5},"title":"Will Rogers. For President?","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"October 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"TULSA -- Somewhere in the mist of the\u00a0beginnings of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists arose two icons, Ernie Pyle and Will Rogers. NSNC has\u00a0other now-ghostly mentors, including Erma and Molly and Art, but these two men from the first half of the 20th century are the modern mentors of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "American Culture"","block_context":{"text":"American Culture","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/american-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bookmarks showing Will Rogers for President buttons ","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/willrogersforpresident-220x200.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2855,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions\/2855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}