The History News Service, founded in 1996 by Joyce Appleby and James M. Banner, Jr., continues to distribute op-ed pieces that contextualize current events and issues in historical terms to over 300 newspapers and wire services in North America. HNS op-eds have appeared in such newspapers as the Los Angeles Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Miami Herald, the San Francisco Examiner, the Chicago Tribune, Newsday, the Boston Globe, and similar newspapers around the country. The McClatchy Wire Service, successor to the Knight-Ridder-Tribune Wire Service, also received HNS articles for distribution to its large net of subscribers.

Holding itself out as a syndicate of professional historians, HNS defines that term broadly and accepts submissions (while making no promises) from graduate students and proven independent writers of history as well as from experienced academic scholars. It places no restrictions on the subjects covered nor on the eras or regions from which historical understanding of current matters may be gained. Thus, historians from all fields and of all subjects are invited to submit proposed articles to co-directors Joyce Appleby (appleby-AT-history.ucla.edu) and James M. Bannner, Jr. (jbanner-AT-aya.yale.edu), both of whom should receive texts simultaneously. Full guidelines, examples of how to write op eds, an archive of past HNS op eds, and other information may be found at www.h-net.org/~hns.