The National Society of Newspaper Columnists (NSNC) created the Sitting Duck Award, an honor bestowed each year on the crème de la crème of the most ridiculed newsmakers in America. A time-honored tradition within the Society, the award provides columnists with the opportunity to give back to those public figures who have given so much to the newspaper media, and yet asked for so little in return.
The award’s title originates from the fact that these figures are easy targets — sitting ducks — during the most perilous of times a columnist can face: the slow news day. The award may be given to a person, animal, group or thing, but the point is to poke a little fun.