The National Society of Newspaper Columnists (NSNC) have announced the finalists for its 2012 awards. The winners will be honored May 5. The finalists, in alphabetical order, are below.

• General Interest (print) over 50,000 circulation: Gendy Alimurung, LA Weekly: Derrick Z. Jackson, The Boston Globe: Dave Lieber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
• Humor (print) over 50,000 circulation: Samantha Bennett, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Kathy Eliscu, Maine Women, Portland: Alice Laussade, Dallas Observer.
• General Interest (print) under 50,000 circulation: Saralee Perel, Cape Cod (Mass.)Times; Eve Samples, The Stuart (Fla) News; Ken Tingley, The Post-Star, Glens Falls, N.Y.
• Humor (print) under 50,000 circulation: Saralee Perel, Cape Cod (Mass.) Times; Laura Rafaty, Napa Valley (Calif.) Register; Jerry Zezima, Stamford (Conn.) Advocate.
• Online, Blog and Multimedia over 100,000 monthly unique visitors: John Avlon, The Daily Beast; Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times; Roger Simon, Politico.
• Online, Blog and Multimedia under 100,000 monthly unique visitors: Ivy Eisenberg, Schmeightschmatchers; Mike Farley, farleyinwriting.com; Amy White, Waiting for Merlot.