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North Star Writers Group was a newspaper
syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndic ...
and
editorial An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK), is an article or any other written document, often unsigned, written by the senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper or magazine, that expresses the publication's opinion about ...
services firm launched in December 2005. It was based in Byron Center, MI. The syndicate's material was carried by more than 50
newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
s across the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It was utilized by some community papers that could not afford opinion writers or cartoonists of their own.Syndication Stagnation?
by Publishing Trends Editors March 1, 2006 Publishing Trends On March 7, 2012, its website stated that it had ceased syndicated operations.


History

North Star Writers Group was owned and operated by
editor in chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held account ...
Dan Calabrese and editor relations director Angie Calabrese. The syndicate was a successor company to a now-defunct
public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...
firm called North Star Public Relations, which Calabrese launched in 1999. Although North Star Public Relations enjoyed some early success, it foundered as the company struggled to maintain financial stability. Calabrese began his career as a
journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
and opinion writer in various
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
markets. By early 2006 Calabrese decided to retire the public relations practice (a move that was completed at the conclusion of 2006) and focus their efforts on the syndication.


Recruitment of Writers

Calabrese began recruiting columnists in September 2005 in anticipation of a December 2005 site launch. His initial efforts focused on recently graduated college writers who showed skill but would likely be overlooked by more established syndicates. This effort helped North Star recruit Lucia Bill of
Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...
, Nathaniel Shockey of
Seattle Pacific University Seattle Pacific University (SPU) is a private Christian university in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 in conjunction with the Oregon and Washington Conference of the Free Methodist Church as the Seattle Seminary. It ...
and Paul Ibrahim of
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
. When the syndicate launched, it featured 11 columnists. Soon after the launch, a variety of other writers learned of the syndicate and began offering their services, including ''
Dayton Daily News The ''Dayton Daily News'' (''DDN'') is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc., a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately 55,000 employee ...
'' feature editor Bob Batz, '' Mt. Pleasant Daily Sun'' reporter Eric Baerren, author and freelance writer Candace Talmadge and author/humor writer Mike Ball. Calabrese did little in the way of formal recruitment of writers, with a notable exception being their outreach to radio talk show host, former U.S. Senate candidate and former
Godfather's Pizza Godfather's Pizza is an American privately owned restaurant chain headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, that operates fast casual Italian franchises and pizza express locations. History Godfather's Pizza was founded in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1973. Wi ...
chairman
Herman Cain Herman Cain (December 13, 1945July 30, 2020) was an American businessman and Tea Party movement activist in the Republican Party. Cain graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He then earned a master's degree ...
, who joined the syndicate one month after its launch.


Columnists

At its zenith, North Star Writers Group syndicated 24 columnists, including 18 op-ed writers, five general feature page columnists, one business humor writer and one cartoonist, Brett Noel. Liberal op-ed writers included Eric Baerren, Lucia de Vernai, David B. Livingstone, former Gore Communications Director Lawrence J. Haas,
Rob Kall Rob Kall (born June 29, 1951) is an American inventor, journalist, and founder of the OpEdNews website, a United States-based progressive/ liberal news, antiwar activism, and opinion website founded in 2003. Kall also hosts the 'Bottom Up Radio ...
,
Stephen Silver Stephen Silver (born August 30, 1972) is a British artist, cartoonist and character designer. He is best known as the lead character designer for animated series such as ''Kim Possible'' and ''Danny Phantom''. History Silver started his profes ...
, Candace Talmadge and Jessica Vozel. Conservative op-ed writers included Calabrese himself, along with
Herman Cain Herman Cain (December 13, 1945July 30, 2020) was an American businessman and Tea Party movement activist in the Republican Party. Cain graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He then earned a master's degree ...
, David Karki, former main speechwriter for the 1984 Reagan/Bush campaign Bob Maistros, Paul Ibrahim,
Jamie Weinstein Jamie Weinstein is an American political journalist, opinion commentator, and satirist. He currently hosts The Dispatch podcast on Mondays and formerly hosted ''The Jamie Weinstein Show'' podcast, which was at one time a National Review Online pod ...
, and Nathaniel Shockey. Also included was label-defier Llewellyn King. Feature writers include Bob Batz ("Senior Moments"), Cindy Droog ("The Working Mom"), Mike Ball ("What I've Learned So Far"), D.F. Krause ("Business Ridiculous"), food writer The Laughing Chef and David J. Pollay ("The Happiness Answer")


References

{{Reflist


External links


North Star Writers Group (syndicate site)

North Star Writers Group (agency services site)
Newspaper companies of the United States