Syracuse Press Club

05/20/2024

Syracuse Press Club President Katrina Tulloch spoke to CNYCentral.com reporter Mary Kielar, urging the Syracuse City School District Board to make openness and transparency a priority, in light of a recent letter sent by SCSD lawyers threatening to cease contact with a local newsroom.

School board members are elected officials who work for taxpayers. Asking questions of elected officials does not constitute harassment. This is a reporter’s job. Press freedom is protected in our constitution’s First Amendment.

Elected officials are accountable to the public. Reporters serve the public by asking questions. It’s the job of an elected official to provide context and clarity on their positions, and to defend their actions to the people who elect them. Regular communication with the press comes with the territory.

Some elected officials try to hide their mistakes and avoid accountability by ignoring questions or restricting media access. This shameful behavior does not serve the Syracuse public.

Journalists have a right and obligation to look into and report on those who are entrusted with taxpayer dollars, especially those whose decisions directly impact public education.

We will always stand for press freedom and the public’s right to know.

Watch the full news segment here: https://cnycentral.com/news/local/syracuse-city-school-district-press-club-school-board-cease-desist-letter-lawyer-first-amendment-journalists-newsroom #

05/08/2024

05/05/2024

Congratulations to all our winners at the Syracuse Press Club Professional Recognition Awards last night! It was a lively, terrific celebration of local journalism and media. 🏆🏆

We have many more photos coming later this week from Herm Card! But for now, here's the full list of 2024 winners, with award placements and judges' comments: https://syracusepressclub.org/news/syracuse-press-club-announces-2023-2024-award-winners/

05/04/2024

Good morning, everyone!

We look forward to welcoming you to our Syracuse Press Club Professional Recognition Awards tonight! Doors open at 6 p.m. for the cocktail hour, and dinner service begins at 7 p.m.

Tonight, we celebrate the hard work you’ve done in journalism and media over the past year. This is the 46th year of our awards celebration and we're proud to keep this tradition going strong.

See all the 2023-2024 SPC award finalists here: https://syracusepressclub.org/news/syracuse-press-club-announces-2023-professional-recognition-awards-finalists/

05/03/2024

The Syracuse Press Club congratulates two winners of the 2024 Philip A. Hofmann Transparency Award.

The Transparency Award, formerly known as the President’s Award for Best News Source, is given to those who provide access, information, and insight to journalists covering stories important to the citizens of Central New York.

The first winner is Julie Halpin, the public information officer for U.S. Army Fort Drum & 10th Mountain Division.

In his nomination of Julie for the Transparency Award, Brian Dwyer of Spectrum News wrote:

“Julie helps guide media through major stories — presidential visits, deployments, homecomings and the unfortunate realities of fighting wars — to stories that highlight units, training missions, individual soldiers and the bond Fort Drum has cultivated with the Northern New York and Central New York communities.”

Our second winner is the New York Coalition for Open Government, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that uses advocacy, education and civic engagement to promote open, transparent government and defends citizens’ right to access information from public institutions.

In his nomination of the Coalition for the Transparency Award, Ken Sturtz of The Palladium-Times wrote:

“The coalition’s activities have included trips to Albany to lobby elected officials, sharing stories about open government issues through social media and highlighting Gov. Kathy Hochul’s poor record on government transparency in contrast to her promises. And the coalition has spoken out against municipalities that have demonstrated a lack of transparency in Central New York.”

Thank you both for setting strong examples for news sources, news advocates and public information experts across Central New York. https://syracusepressclub.org/news/julie-halpin-ny-coalition-for-open-government-win-2024-spc-transparency-awards/

04/28/2024

We lost many great journalists, educators, newsroom staff, and media professionals since our last Syracuse Press Club Awards banquet. Let's take a moment to remember them.

This segment will play during the reception hour at Saturday's SPC Awards dinner.

Special thanks to Laura Bailey, Tim Fox, Mark Murphy and Katrina Tulloch for keeping track of beloved colleagues and friends who are deeply missed.

(Music: The Longest Road By Lalo Brickman)

04/25/2024

SPC is delighted to share Meteorologist Violet Scibior of CNYCentral.com will co-host the Syracuse Press Club Awards Banquet on Saturday, May 4.

Meteorologist Violet Scibior joined CNY Central’s Weather Authority Team in June 2021. Violet grew up in Utica, N.Y., where her passion for weather began. Following her dreams, Violet went to SUNY Brockport for a bachelor’s degree in meteorology and a minor in broadcasting.

Violet’s first job out of college was at WKTV NEWSChannel 2 in Utica, where she worked as a broadcast meteorologist/MMJ for two years. She also lived in Tampa for a few months in between college semesters for an internship at Spectrum Bay News 9.

You can watch Violet during "Weekend in Central New York," in the mornings on NBC3, and various other CNY Central newscasts during the week.

Violet will co-host the awards with TK99's Glenn Gomez Adams, who we previously announced. We are so grateful to Violet and Gomez for leading the SPC award ceremonies in May!

04/24/2024

The Syracuse Press Club is pleased to announce two longtime sportswriters Donna Ditota and Mike Waters of syracuse.com and The Post-Standard have been named to the SPC Wall of Distinction for 2024!

This is the club’s highest honor.

Born in Syracuse, Donna Ditota went to St. Bonaventure University on a basketball scholarship, where she was a 4-year starter and 2-year team MVP. She was also the sports editor of the Bona Venture student newspaper her senior year.

She started working as a business reporter at the CNY Business Review. She was hired at the Syracuse Newspapers in 1986 to work in regional sports (back when they had two newspapers and a regional division!)

Donna has since mostly covered Syracuse’s men’s basketball team, but has covered essentially every sport. For a few years she was the beat reporter for SU men’s lacrosse when they won a bunch of national championships. Donna has won a number of awards for her writing and reporting. She also won St. Bonaventure’s John Domino Award for sports journalism, and was named the 2023 New York State sportswriter of the year.

Donna is on the boards of the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame, the Mountain Goat Run and St. Bonaventure’s sports journalism program. She was inducted into Bishop Grimes sports hall of fame and the USBWA hall of fame.

Pete Thamel, one of ESPN’s top reporters, wrote this about Donna:

“Fitting of a former center, Donna Ditota’s perspective has always acted as a beacon from above, illuminating both the athletes and games she’s covered. She’s as skilled a feature writer as anyone in the country, and her ability to connect with athletes and tell their stories has been a gift to readers in Syracuse for decades. Donna also knows the sport as well as any writer, and she’s been able to offer clear-eyed Xs and Os analysis that has been indispensable for Syracuse fans to better understand the Orange. Few have informed and analyzed sports – basketball and beyond – more poignantly in Syracuse.”

A 1986 graduate of the The University of North Carolina, Mike Waters worked at the Raleigh News & Observer and the Nashville Banner before coming to Syracuse. He has won numerous writing awards from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and the Associated Press Sports Editors.

In 2019, he was named New York State Sports Writer of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. He received the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Jim O’Connell Award for Excellence in Beat Reporting in 2021 and he was inducted into the USBWA’s Hall of Fame in 2022.

He and his wife, Robin, have two children, Christopher and Anna Kate.

And Jason Murray – Mike’s former editor at The Post-Standard and the current Washington Post sports editor – sums up Mike’s reputation this way:

"Mike Waters is the undisputed authority on Syracuse basketball in Central New York. He puts the readers first. More than that, he’s a terrific teammate and person, who tells stories with empathy, compassion and precision. It’s impossible to follow the story of Syracuse basketball without Mike’s work."

Congratulations Mike and Donna on your long and incredible careers. You will have permanent places on the Syracuse Press Club’s Wall of Distinction in Syracuse, N.Y.

We look forward to celebrating you at the SPC awards banquet on Saturday, May 4!

https://syracusepressclub.org/news/donna-ditota-mike-waters-named-to-syracuse-press-club-wall-of-distinction/

04/22/2024

Today is the FINAL day to reserve your tickets and tables for the 2024 Syracuse Press Club Professional Awards Banquet on Saturday, May 4.

If you have questions, email us at [email protected].

Seats are filling up fast. This was a highly competitive year, and we are capping attendance at 200 guests. Buy your tickets and tables before midnight TONIGHT, on Monday, April 22! https://syracusepressclub.org/dinner-tickets/

04/18/2024

The Syracuse Press Club is thrilled to announce the winner of our prestigious 2024 Bill Carey Award for Journalist of the Year.

For this award, the club annually recognizes one journalist who stands out among peers for contributions to news coverage in a 12-month period (2023).

Congratulations to Glenn Coin, our 2024 Journalist of the Year! Glenn is the weather, environment and science reporter for syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. He also covers Micron Technology’s plans to build a $100 billion chip plant in Central New York.

He has a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Michigan State University and two master’s degrees from Syracuse University, in newspapers and public administration. He taught journalism for more than 20 years at several Central New York colleges.

John Lammers, syracuse.com’s senior director of content, wrote this about Glenn:

“Glenn Coin has built a remarkable reputation in Syracuse: He’s the reporter who figures out important, complex things and explains them in clear and delightful ways.

A scientist by schooling, he has been the go-to expert on Covid, lake effect snow, climate change, public health, air and water pollution, sewers and water service, trash, the heavens, oddball critters and any number of unexplained natural phenomena.

It’s always: Glenn, what’s going on here?

He was born for this moment in Syracuse. Glenn leads the Syracuse.com and The Post-Standard’s coverage of Micron Technology’s planned construction of a massive chip-making factory here. It represents a once-in-multiple-generations opportunity and challenge for Central New York. It is important and complex. And in 2023, Glenn owned the Micron coverage, breaking news and breaking down the science of this project.

He plowed through a nearly 400-page document to find this surprise: the plant’s likely water and power needs were vastly greater than earlier estimates. That dominated the local discussion for months. He profiled the amazing history of Micron and the mercurial nature of the global chip business. He fact-checked the job estimates promised by government and the company, and he found that the claims were overstated. He broke the news that a Dutch company, a high-flying international giant, was a major partner joining the local Micron plan.

These scoops and others focused the debate here in the first full year of planning for this transformational project. Glenn would publish a story and it would be discussed in public meetings that same day.

Unlike any other reporter in town, his competition on this national story is not in this area code. Glenn is fighting for Micron stories with business reporters from Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. What’s revealing: publications around the nation have done “Micron in Syracuse” stories and they all read like they have a Syracuse.com subscription.

Even with all that, my favorite story of Glenn’s this year was completely different. He told the stirring tale of the birth of twin elephants at our zoo. It was surprising, dramatic and highly unusual. Glenn’s story, beautifully told, puts you in the room, with all the tension. https://www.syracuse.com/news/2023/02/inside-the-syracuse-zoos-scramble-to-save-a-newborn-elephant-twin-hes-not-responding.html

This vast range of engaging work in this key year in Syracuse shows what a treasure Glenn is.”

Congratulations Glenn, we look forward to honoring your incredible year of journalism at the SPC Awards on Saturday, May 4, 2024! https://syracusepressclub.org/news/glenn-coin-of-syracuse-com-named-2024-journalist-of-the-year/

The prestigious Bill Carey Journalist of the Year Award is named after longtime Syracuse broadcaster Bill Carey. In a career that spanned more than 40 years, Bill was involved with covering virtually every major story in greater Syracuse since the 1970s. He finished his career as a senior reporter with Time Warner Cable News (now known as Spectrum News 1). He was known as a skilled writer, a disciplined editor and a beloved mentor and guiding light to many young journalists. Bill died in 2015 and is missed by many.

Everyone, banquet seats are filling up fast. This was a highly competitive year, and we are capping attendance at 200 guests. Buy your tickets and tables before Monday, April 22! https://syracusepressclub.org/dinner-tickets/

04/17/2024

The Syracuse Press Club is pleased to announce the winner of our 2024 Selwyn Kershaw Professional Standards Award. This award is presented to individuals whose high journalistic standards serve as an inspiration to others.

Congratulations to Charlie Ellis, the managing editor of The Palladium-Times and Oswego County News Now.

Charlie wanted to work for newspapers for as long as he can remember. He started reading them from his home in suburban Buffalo as soon as he learned to read, and he was sports editor of his junior high newspaper and editor of his high school paper. Before his senior year in high school, he spent two weeks at Newhouse’s School Press Institute for aspiring journalists.

Charlie majored in journalism at Northwestern University, spending most of this time in college working for The Daily Northwestern student newspaper. After covering the (at the time) legendarily bad football team, which finished 0-11 that year and covering the firing of the coach (and the athletic director, for good measure), Charlie spent the next trimester working as a full-time intern as a reporter and copy editor for The Bulletin newspaper in Bend, Oregon. When he returned to campus, he was co-sports editor of The Daily Northwestern, and in the fall the NU football team broke the national record for consecutive losses. In his spare time during his senior year in college, he was sports editor of The Skokie News. It was his first paying newspaper job. He was paid $35 a week, before taxes.

After graduation, he worked for five years for El Paso Herald-Post. He was hired as a copy editor. After a year on the copy desk, he was a reporter for 2½ years, covering education and then city hall. After working as an assistant city editor for a year, he was hired by The Syracuse Herald-Journal as an assistant sports editor.

He held that position for three years, followed by two years as assistant news editor and four years as assistant business editor. After the staffs of the Herald-Journal and The Post-Standard merged in 1996, he became chief of the Cayuga County bureau, working in the Auburn office.

Two years later, he returned downtown and worked in a variety of copy editing jobs for the next 13 years. But the world – especially the newspaper world – was changing, and Charlie knew it. He shocked his bosses when he told them he wanted to go back into reporting. He figured that even if newspapers went away, there would always be a need for reporters – more so than for people who laid out print pages. Eventually, his bosses assigned him to cover crime and safety – more than 20 years after his last reporting gig.

A year later, The Post-Standard made some epic changes, switching to becoming a digital-first operation with home delivery three days a week. After the dust settled, he was back on the copy desk, called the Pub Hub. Instead of a copy editor, he was a page producer. That lasted about three years until the Pub Hub was shut down. He was invited to join the Print Lab – basically a giant Pub Hub for a whole bunch of newspapers, including now The Post-Standard – in New Jersey. A light bulb went off in his head, and he decided not to move to Edison.

So he joined the corporate world for six years. He never imagined that he would return to the newspaper business. But on Nov. 21, 2022, he started his current job as managing editor of The Palladium-Times in Oswego.

He’s home. https://syracusepressclub.org/news/charles-ellis-selected-for-2024-spc-professional-standards-award/

Congratulations Charles, we look forward to recognizing you at the SPC Awards on May 4! Buy your tickets and tables here before Monday, April 22! https://syracusepressclub.org/dinner-tickets/

04/15/2024

The Syracuse Press Club board is proud to announce the 2024 winner of our prestigious $2,000 Devesty-Williams Scholarship.

Congratulations to Thomas Cafarella of Norwood N.Y.!

Thomas is a senior at SUNY Oswego with a broadcast and mass communication major with a minor in political science. He graduated from Madrid Waddington CSD in 2021.

At SUNY Oswego, Thomas joined the student-run TV station WTOP-TV 10. He worked as an summer intern with WWNY-TV in Watertown (Channel 7), the news channel he grew up watching. His internship was later extended to the fall and spring of his senior year.

After graduation, Thomas lined up a full-time position as the Saint Lawrence County Correspondent at 7 News.

"I look forward to serving the communities that I grew up in," he said. "The passion I have for this profession keeps me putting my best foot forward."

Thomas is grateful for the support he received from his professor/advisor Michael Riecke, the WWNY staff, his parents Anita and Tony Cafarella, and sister Emily.

Thomas, we look forward to presenting you with your award (and check!) at the SPC Awards Banquet on Saturday, May 4! Congratulations! 🏆

Full story:
https://syracusepressclub.org/news/thomas-cafarella-selected-for-spc-devesty-williams-scholarship/

04/08/2024

We are excited to announce the first of our two co-hosts for the Syracuse Press Club awards banquet on May 4. Please welcome Gomez Adams as our co-emcee for the special evening! 🎙️

Glenn “Gomez” Adams grew up in Marcellus and began college at SUNY Buffalo as a chemical engineering major, until a sophomore semester of organic chemistry presented a dose of reality. He left Buffalo and enrolled in the radio/television program at Onondaga Community College to pursue an interest in broadcasting that began after spending much of his younger years listening to radio and watching late-night TV.

He left OCC in 1981 to begin his broadcasting career at WRMV in Herkimer. A year later in 1982, he moved on from WRMV and took a studio job at WSTM-TV 3 operating the teleprompter during the newscasts, running a camera for the weekly show “Syracuse Bowls,” and appearing on the Saturday morning kids show “Saturday Showboat” as “Peppermint Pete,” along with George “the magician,” “The Crafty Lady,” and “Uncle” Don Edwards.

During the summer of 1983, Gomez also did the overnight show on what was then Magic 104.7, a top 40 station that years later became the country station B104.7. Then in 1984, he was hired by Y94 FM where he spent a decade on the air as host of the night time show “Club Gomez,” and then the morning show with Big Mike. It was a great 10 years.

In 1994 Gomez made the decision to leave Y94 and take over the morning show spot on Classic Rock TK99 and has now been doing that show for the past 30 years.

TK99 became the flagship radio for Syracuse University sports, and as a result he hosted the award-winning Coach Boeheim night time call in show for 25 years, a show that continues with new head coach Adrian “Red” Autry.

In 2016, after a 35 year final semester, Gomez returned to OCC in the spring to finally finish his coursework. He graduated from OCC in May 2016. Glenn lives in Cicero with his wife Kim. This year they are celebrating their 33rd wedding anniversary!

Gomez, we look forward to seeing you co-host the SPC Awards on May 4! Buy your tickets and tables here before April 22! https://syracusepressclub.org/dinner-tickets/

04/01/2024

The Syracuse Press Club congratulates the finalists for the 46th annual Professional Recognition Awards.

We will reveal which entries placed first, second or received an honorable mention during our awards dinner on Saturday, May 4.

Please reserve your seat or table by April 22.

This was one of our most competitive years in recent memory. We received 458 entries across 54 categories. Our judges from partner press clubs in California, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Ohio and Wisconsin had the daunting task of reviewing and ranking the top entries for each category.

On average, only one-third of the entries submitted in each category earned a spot on the finalists’ list.

Congratulations to our finalists and thanks to all of this year’s entrants for providing central and northern New York with essential journalism.

The Syracuse Press Club congratulates the finalists for the 46th annual Professional Recognition Awards. The finalists for each category are listed alphabetically by the first author’s last name. We will reveal which entries placed first, second or received an honorable mention during our awards d...

03/25/2024

Syracuse Press Club is pleased to announce the winner of the 2024 A. Brohmann Roth Newcomer Award, based on stellar reporting by a young journalist in 2023. The award recognizes raw talent, high potential and hard work.

Congratulations to Darian Stevenson, a crime and public safety reporter at syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. She was selected from a competitive group of talented new journalists in Central New York.

Darian joined Syracuse.com and The Post-Standard in August 2022 after a summer internship with the newsroom. She graduated with a master’s degree in Magazine, News and Digital Journalism from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University in June 2022.

Since working as Syracuse.com reporter, Darian investigated how the Hyundai and Kia phenomenon affected the city and the people who fell victim to car theft. Her reporting revealed the lack of consequences for the teens stealing the vehicles.

Darian also extensively covered the families living at Candlewood Suites, the hotel at the center of the migrant debate in Onondaga County. When a family had their heat turned off as retaliation, Darian interviewed them in their freezing cold hotel room.

In their nomination of Darian, reporters Rylee Kirk and Marnie Eisenstadt wrote:

“When Apreona Harris was shot and killed outside the Rescue Mission, Darian spoke with her family. They had reached out to police for help and didn’t get any. Darian followed up with police and the District Attorney’s Office, finding out how the system failed a woman, keeping her abuser on the street.”

Darian is originally from Alton, Illinois. A Midwest girl through and through. After high school, she graduated from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with a dual degree in psychology and mass communications.

In the future, Darian hopes to continue covering impactful topics and help share the stories of the people.

Congratulations Darian! We look forward to presenting you with our 2024 Newcomer Award at the SPC Awards Banquet on Saturday, May 4.

https://syracusepressclub.org/news/darian-stevenson-wins-2024-newcomer-award-by-syracuse-press-club/

02/07/2024

There are only two days left to submit your work for the Syracuse Press Club Awards!

Friday, Feb. 9 is our award submission deadline.

If you're entering as an individual (in other words, a news organization is not entering the work on your behalf), you must be an active member of the press club. You can become a member or renew your membership on our website: https://syracusepressclub.org/become-a-member/

Please review the contest rules and categories before submitting: https://syracusepressclub.org/categories/

Good luck to all who enter!

01/22/2024

If you haven't already, gather your best work from 2023 and enter the Syracuse Press Club's Professional Recognition Awards!

The contest is open to journalists and news organizations in our 21-county service area, which includes Onondaga, Madison, Cortland, Cayuga, Oswego, Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Lewis, Herkimer, Oneida, Otsego, Delaware, Chenango, Broome, Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins, Wayne, Seneca, Schuyler and Yates.

Here are some key dates to remember:

Wednesday, Jan. 24: The early bird rate of $15 per entry ends at 11:59 pm.

Wednesday, Jan. 25: Rate per entry increases to $20 for professional journalists. (Student rate for student categories remains $15.)

Friday, Feb. 9: Last day to submit entries!

If you're entering as an individual (in other words, a news organization is not entering the work on your behalf), you must be an active member of the press club. You can become a member or renew your membership on our website: https://syracusepressclub.org/become-a-member/

Please review the contest rules and look over the contest categories before submitting: https://syracusepressclub.org/categories/

Good luck to all who enter!

01/12/2024

Congratulations to our SPC board member Emily Kenny, who has been selected as the 2024 Journalist of the Year by the New York State Agricultural Society.

Emily is a digital journalist and photographer for Spectrum News 1 Central New York/S Tier, covering agriculture and food production on New York farms.

She is also a Report for America Corps member and has been a board member of Syracuse Press Club since November 2022, and she volunteers with the Syracuse Journalism Lab.

This is a great accomplishment for a talented, hard-working journalist. Beat reporting matters! Bravo Emily 🏆

12/22/2023

From all of us at Syracuse Press Club, we wish you and yours a very happy holiday season. (And we raise a glass to those of you covering the news while many are on vacation this week and next!) We'll see you in the new year when our 2024 Syracuse Press Club award season kicks off in January!

12/04/2023

The Syracuse Press Club board of directors is holding its yearly election. The following is a slate of officers up for (re)election. Pursuant to the club’s bylaws, the slate is published a month before a vote is held at our next board meeting. Active SPC members may vote via email at [email protected].

PRESIDENT: Katrina Tulloch
VICE PRESIDENT: Michael Riecke (Awards Chair)
SECRETARY: Emily Kenny
TREASURER: Megan Craig
DIRECTOR (term ends 2023): Charles McChesney
*DIRECTOR (term ends 2024): Ashley Kang
*DIRECTOR (term ends 2025): Kenneth Sturtz
*DIRECTOR (term ends 2025): Charlie Miller
*DIRECTOR (term ends 2025): Laura Bailey
(*denotes not currently up for re-election)

Our officers and board directors run our annual Syracuse Press Club Awards Competition, provide student scholarships and manage the Syracuse Journalism Lab at ITC.

We are proud to keep this club going since 1951 and to celebrate the best of local journalism year after year.

Please contact us at [email protected] if you have questions about our slate, or if you have interest in joining our board next year!

Happy holidays, everyone.

05/02/2023

Friday was a special day.

We were proud to host the graduation of our 2022-2023 Syracuse Journalism Lab class!!!

This is the second year of the Lab, which Syracuse Press Club board members created in 2021 to empower and train the next generation of journalists. We partnered with media teacher Jeff Newell of ITC to prepare students for careers in journalism and media, and also to be smarter news consumers.

Thanks to community donations, a grant by the The John Ben Snow Foundation, fiscal sponsorship from TheStand and corporate sponsorship from syracuse.com, we were able to pay a local journalist each year to lead the Lab.

This year, educator Ashley Kang of The Stand and WAER, led the Lab class for 12 weeks, teaching journalism basics, story structure, news gathering, interviewing, photography, multimedia production, media literacy, and more. Some of the students have already published their first clips in The Stand, The Post-Standard and in the The Daily Orange. Thank you Ashley! (Thanks to Emily Kenny and Nick Lisi too, for sharing their photography knowledge!)

Camalot Todd formerly of Spectrum News 1 Buffalo led the effort beautifully in our first year. Now we have another class of talented young people who are energized and prepared to pursue journalism careers.

We also welcomed a special guest of honor this year.

Award-winning journalist Natasha S. Alford, a Syracuse native and Syracuse City School District graduate herself, attended the event to give $2,000 scholarships to three outstanding Journalism Lab graduates.

Natasha is the vice president of digital content at TheGrio and a CNN Political Analyst. She has forged an incredible career in journalism, but she never forgets where she came from.

Natasha’s break into journalism was made possible by scholarships. Now, she’s paying it forward and giving back to the communities where she got her start. It was amazing to see her first scholarships all go to three graduates of the Syracuse Journalism Lab: Serenity Baxter, Destinyi Fernandez and Nathaniel Teska-Prince.

Thank you to all the community members and CNY journalists who came to support these tremendous young people and celebrate their achievements. We are so proud of them. The future of journalism is bright! ⭐

(Photos by Emily Kenny and Katrina Tulloch)