columnist

 

the writer of an essay appearing regularly in a newspaper or periodical, usually under a constant heading. Although originally humorous, the column in many cases has supplanted the editorial for authoritative opinions on world problems. Usually independent of the policy of the publication, the columnist is allowed to criticize political and social institutions as well as persons. Well-known American columnists have included Finley Peter Dunne, Heywood Broun, Ernie Pyle, F. P. Adams (F. P. A.), Drew Pearson, Dorothy Thompson, Arthur Krock, Westbrook Pegler, Walter Lippmann, James Reston, Joseph and Stewart Alsop, Russell Baker, Mary McGrory, William F. Buckley, Jr., Jimmy Breslin, William Safire, Tom Wicker, Ellen Goodman, Murray Kempton, and Art Buchwald. Noted newspaper columnists have included gossip columnists Walter Winchell, Louella Parsons, Liz Smith, and “Suzy”; advice columnists Ann Landers and Abigail van Buren; economic columnist Sylvia Porter; etiquette columnist “Miss Manners” (Judith Martin); and sports columnists Lou Cannon and Red Smith.

Bibliography

See S. G. Riley, ed., Biographical Dictionary of American Newspaper Columnists (1995) and S. G. Riley, The American Newspaper Columnist (1998).

Topics in journalism
Professional issues
Ethics & objectivity Sources & attribution News & news values Reporting & writing Fourth estate • Libel law Education & books Other topics
Fields
Advocacy journalism Alternative journalism Arts journalism Business journalism Citizen journalism Fashion journalism Investigative journalism Literary journalism Photojournalism Science journalism Sports journalism Video game journalism Video journalism
Social impact
Infotainment "Infotainers" and personalities News management Distortion and VNRs PR and propaganda "Yellow journalism" Press freedom
News media
Newspapers and magazines News agencies Broadcast journalism Online and blogging Alternative media
Roles
Journalist, reporter, editor, news presenter, photo journalist, Columnist, visual journalist

A columnist is a journalist who produces a specific form of writing for publication called a "column". Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and on the Internet. Some Internet columns are called blogs or Weblogs.

Types of columnists

• agony aunt, an advice columnist
• critic reviewer
• editorial opinion columnist
• gossip columnist
• humor columnist
• food columnist

Columnists of note in English-language publications

• Shana Alexander
• Jani Allan (Sunday Times (South Africa)) (South Africa)
• Barbara Amiel
• Army Archerd
• Mike Barnicle (Boston Herald, USA)
• Mike Ball (North Star Writers Group) (USA)
• Dave Barry (Miami Herald, USA)
• Lucius Beebe (San Francisco Examiner and New York Herald Tribune, USA)
• Lucia Bill (North Star Writers Group) (USA)
• Christie Blatchford (The Globe and Mail, Canada)
• Erma Bombeck
• L.M. Boyd
• Tom Braden
• David Brooks (New York Times, USA)
• Rosa Brooks (Los Angeles Times, USA)
• Art Buchwald (Washington Post, USA)
• Herman Cain (North Star Writers Group) (USA)
• Dan Calabrese (North Star Writers Group) (USA)
• Mona Charen
• Jeremy Clarkson
• Ann Coulter (Universal Press Syndicate, USA)
• Andrew Coyne
• Maureen Dowd (New York Times, USA)
• John Doyle (The Globe and Mail,
• Cindy Droog (North Star Writers Group) (USA)
• Matt Drudge
• Gwynne Dyer
• Roger Ebert
• Allan Fotheringham
• Benjamin Franklin
• Jonathan Freedland
• Thomas Friedman (New York Times, USA)
• David Frum
• Robert Fulford (National Post, Canada)
• A. A. Gill
• Stuart Goldman (Los Angeles Daily News, (Los Angeles Reader)
• Lewis Grizzard
• Victor Davis Hanson
• Carl Hiaasen (Miami Herald, USA)
• Simon Heffer, UK
• Christopher Hitchens
• Peter Hitchens, UK
• Alan Hurwitz (North Star Writers Group) (USA)
• Molly Ivins
• Simon Jenkins
• Michael Kinsley
• Dick Kleiner
• Charles Krauthammer (Washington Post, USA)
• Paul Krugman (New York Times, USA)
• Ann Landers
• Michele Landsberg (Toronto Star)
• Richard Littlejohn (The Sun and Daily Mail, UK)
• Charlie Madigan (Chicago Tribune, USA)
• Michelle Malkin
• Heather Mallick (The Globe and Mail, Canada)
• Dan Margalit
• Tom Meek
• Vinod Mehta
• Jim Mitchell (North Star Writers Group) (USA)
• George Monbiot (The Guardian, UK)
• Ward Morehouse (The New York Sun, USA)
• Rex Murphy
• Al Neuharth
• Peter C. Newman
• Robert Novak
• Bill O'Reilly (Fox News)
• Clarence Page (Chicago Tribune, USA)
• Kathleen Parker (Washington Post Writers Group, USA)
• Matthew Parris, UK
• William Pfaff (International Herald Tribune, France)
• Daniel Pipes
• Leonard Pitts (Miami Herald, USA)
• Dennis Prager
• Bolesław Prus
• Ted Rall
• Michael Reagan
• Will Rogers
• Andy Rooney
• Parke S. Rouse, Jr. (Daily Press (Virginia), USA)
• Mike Royko
• Amnon Rubinstein (Maariv, Israel)
• William Safire (New York Times, USA)
• Mary Schmich (Chicago Tribune, USA)
• Sylvia Schur
• Stephen Silver (North Star Writers Group) (USA)
• Jeffrey Simpson
• Tavleen Singh. Her column appears in many English language Indian newspapers.
• Joan Smith
• Thomas Sowell
• Mark Steel
• Mark Steyn
• John Stossel
• Andrew Sullivan
• Candace Talmadge (North Star Writers Group) (USA)
• Ellie Tesher
• Cal Thomas
• Hunter S. Thompson (Rolling Stone and ESPN, USA)
• Polly Toynbee
• Marco Travaglio
• Mark Twain
• Abigail Van Buren
• Ronnie Virgets
• Emmett Watson (The Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
• George Will
• Fareed Zakaria
• Johann Hari

Columnists of note in Japanese-language publications

• Fusanosuke Natsume
• Masahiko Katsuya
• Takashi Matsuo
• Akio Nakamori

Nate Fredrickson

• American Press Institute columnist tool box
• National Society of Newspaper Columnists

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