J. Michael Robertson (pictured), an associate professor of media studies at the University of San Francisco, has done an interesting study on newspaper columnists. E&P reports that Robertson unveiled the survey’s results Saturday at the National Society of Newspaper Columnists conference in Boston. When asked “what writing a column is like,” 26% of salaried columnists called it a job and 17% said it was like sex. But Robertson said that wasn’t necessarily a good thing because some columnists feel like they’re married to a nymphomaniac” because they have to write another column as soon as they’re finished with the last one. As for pay, most salaried columnists make between $50,000 and $60,000 a year. Freelancer columnists, on average, make $50 per column. Robertson said his survey is an ongoing project and anyone interested in participating is invited to e-mail him at robertson@usfca.edu.