Syracuse Press Club

03/14/2025

Today (March 14) is the FINAL DAY to submit nominations for the Syracuse Press Club 2025 special honors.

Each year, we induct one or two outstanding Central New York journalists to The Syracuse Press Club Wall of Distinction. 🏆

This is the club’s highest honor, recognizing individuals whose careers in journalism are dedicated to exceptional reporting, integrity, attention to detail, passion for storytelling, leadership, and mentorship.

You can nominate a colleague here: https://syracusepressclub.org/special-honors/

Recent inductees to the Wall of Distinction are Donna Ditota and Mike Waters of syracuse.com (2024), Ken Jackson of Urban CNY News (2023) and Scott Atkinson of 7 News | WWNY (2022), pictured clockwise.

03/13/2025

Today is the last edition of the Cortland Standard, after 157 years of family-owned publication. The Cortland Standard Printing Co. has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.

The newspaper will cease publication, a casualty of declining readership and increasing costs, including an expected 25% tariff on newsprint.

The Cortland Standard is older than the city of Cortland itself. It was the second-oldest family-owned newspaper in New York, but one of the five oldest family-owned newspapers in America.

“I hoped this day would never come,” said Publisher and Editor Evan C. Geibel. “I’m so very grateful to my colleagues and the community for what they’ve done for me, my family and each other.”

This is a heartbreaking loss for the Central New York community. Our thoughts are with the journalists, advertising representatives, customer service and production staff who ran the newspaper for a remarkable 157 years.

Read the full note from the publisher here:

This is the last edition of the Cortland Standard you will ever read. The family-owned newspaper will cease publication, a casualty of declining readership and increasing costs. It …

03/06/2025

Syracuse Press Club is now accepting nominations for our 2025 special honors. The deadline to submit a nomination is Friday, March 14.

Syracuse Press Club annually recognizes a Journalist of the Year who stands out among their peers for outstanding contributions to news coverage in a 12-month period. 🏆

The club accepts nominations from working members of the Central New York media. You may not nominate yourself. Each entry must consist of three work samples (multi-part series count as one) from over the course of the last year, as well as a letter from a nominator.

The nomination letter should include a description of obstacles the nominee had to overcome and the impact of his or her work. This award is intended to highlight a nominee’s work over the course of the last year; it is not a lifetime achievement award.

Nominate here: https://syracusepressclub.org/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.

Recent winners of the Bill Carey Journalist of the Year Award are Glenn Coin of syracuse.com (2024), Iris St. Meran of NewsChannel 9 (2023) and Patrick O’Toole of Spectrum News 1 Central New York/S Tier (2022), pictured.

02/28/2025

Syracuse Press Club is now accepting nominations for our 2025 special honors. The deadline to submit a nomination is Friday, March 14.

The Syracuse Press Club Board of Directors each year bestows the Selwyn Kershaw Professional Standards Award to individuals whose high standards in performing their work serves as an inspiration to others. Nominations are open for any active member of the print, broadcast or online press working in the 21 counties served by the club.

Make a nomination here: https://syracusepressclub.org/special-honors/

Nominations are reviewed and selected by the club's board of directors. Recipients will be honored at the SPC Awards banquet on Saturday, May 3.

Pictured is last year's Professional Standards Award winner, Charles Ellis of The Palladium-Times. (Photo by Herm Card)

02/23/2025

Syracuse Press Club is now accepting nominations for our 2025 special honors. The deadline to submit a nomination is Friday, March 14.

The A. Brohmann Roth Newcomer Award is presented to hard-working individuals who are just beginning their careers in journalism. Eligible nominees must be in their first three years of employment in print, broadcast, or new media.

Make a nomination here: https://syracusepressclub.org/special-honors/

Nominations are reviewed and selected by the club's board of directors. Recipients will be honored at the SPC Awards banquet on Saturday, May 3.

Pictured are some of our most recent SPC Newcomer Award winners: Rylee Kirk, Conor Wight, Darian Stevenson and Anne Hayes.

02/17/2025

This Presidents' Day, we are thrilled to announce Michael Riecke has been newly elected as Syracuse Press Club President!

Our club secretary Emily Kenny rises to the office of SPC Vice President. Congratulations Michael and Emily! The club remains in great hands.

Special thanks to Katrina Tulloch for serving as SPC President for five years from 2020 to 2024. Katrina will stay on the board for 2025 to ensure a smooth transition for the next administration.

The contest for the 2025 SPC Awards is now closed. Thank you to our members for entering the best work in local journalism, photography, podcasts and more.

We look forward to hosting the nominees and winners at our 2025 awards banquet on Saturday, May 3! 🏆

12/20/2024

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 next week!) 🥂

It’s time to hold our 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. SPC members may vote via email at [email protected].

PRESIDENT: Michael Riecke
VICE PRESIDENT: Emily Kenny (Awards Chair)
SECRETARY: Vacant
TREASURER: Megan Craig
DIRECTOR: Ashley Kang
*DIRECTOR: Katrina Tulloch (Past President)
*DIRECTOR: Laura Bailey (Scholarship Chair)
*DIRECTOR: Kenneth Sturtz
*DIRECTOR: Charlie Miller
*DIRECTOR: Natasha Senjakovic
*DIRECTOR: Charles McChesney
(*denotes not currently up for re-election)

A note from SPC President Katrina Tulloch: “It has been an honor to serve as club president for the last five years and to serve on the board for a decade. I’m deeply proud of our club's work and thrilled to move on from this role, knowing the club is in great hands with Michael and Emily. (I’ll continue to serve on the board next year to ensure a smooth transition.) Thank you for your trust and participation in our club awards and events, and for supporting a strong, free press in Central New York.”

Our club officers 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!

Photo by Emily Kenny 📸

10/24/2024

Thank you to all who joined us for our 2024 Media Mixer!

We had a great turnout and terrific panel with Syracuse University's RC Concepcion, Adam Peruta and Dan Pacheco, all professors in the Newhouse School and experts in using Generative AI in media.

They shared brilliant, illuminating and (at times) shocking insights about how quickly AI tools are changing, and which tools can best help reporters, editors and media professionals across publishing platforms.

Special thanks to RC, Adam and Dan for taking the time to answer our questions and share what they're teaching their students at SU. Thank you also to our moderator, SPC board director Charlie Miller.

Photos by our multitalented SPC board director Emily Kenny.

10/22/2024

Meet the experts speaking at our AI in Media panel tomorrow, Oct. 23!

Syracuse Press Club’s 4th annual Media Mixer features a dinner and AI discussion with Syracuse University's RC Concepción, Adam Peruta and Dan Pacheco, all professors in the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.

Dan Pacheco holds the Peter A. Horvitz Endowed Chair of Journalism Innovation at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, where he teaches Virtual Reality Storytelling, Data and Digital Journalism, and AI and Emerging Media.

A VR Journalism pioneer, Pacheco co-produced the award-winning Harvest of Change VR project which earned an Edward R. Murrow Award in 2015.

In 2020, Pacheco led the student-produced project, Visualizing 81, which won multiple industry awards. He serves on the Peabody Awards Interactive Board of Jurors to recognize storytelling innovation in immersive media, games and interactive documentaries.

Prior to academia, Pacheco spent 20 years in digital journalism and startups. He received a “20 Under 40” award in 2005 for social networking innovations in journalism, and a Knight News Challenge grant in 2007.

(We featured panelists Adam Peruta and RC Concepcion previously.) Charlie Miller of syracuse.com will moderate the panel.

This 10/23 event is FREE for SPC members. Admission is $15 for nonmembers and $5 for students.

Sandwiches and sides will be provided. A cash bar will be available.

Where: Syracuse's Dinosaur BBQ, second floor.
When: Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 5:30 p.m.

Registration is REQUIRED to attend. RSVP HERE: https://forms.gle/eGjjx91Liiv5JoPD9

10/17/2024

Meet the experts speaking at our AI in Media panel on Oct. 23!

Syracuse Press Club’s 4th annual Media Mixer features a dinner and AI discussion with Syracuse University's RC Concepción, Adam Peruta and Dan Pacheco, all professors in the Newhouse School.

Rafael "RC" Concepción is an award-winning photographer, podcast host, educator and author of 15 best-selling books on photography, Photoshop, Lightroom and HDR photography.

RC Concepcion teaches undergraduate and graduate students multimedia storytelling as well as digital asset management, post-production, imaging workflow and video editing using Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere, After Effects, Audition, Illustrator, InDesign, Spark, Audition, Capture One, Photo Mechanic and web-based content management systems. He focuses on best practices for digital capture and post-production and provides a technological foundation for developing ideas in the ever-changing media landscape.

Previously, he served as the director of education for Kelby Media Group, one of the largest online schools for digital photography, graphic design and post-processing. As director, he was responsible for the development of content in the digital photography space and was the host of the popular podcasts “Photography Tips and Tricks,” “Photoshop User TV” and “The Grid.” Concepción also served as one of Adobe’s Photoshop Dream Team instructors for conferences worldwide.

In addition to working in the visual creative space, Concepción spent several years in IT management, working for IBM in Fishkill, New York, and Intershop Communications GmbH in Jena, Germany, with a focus on B2B e-commerce development and systems analysis.

Concepción has worked closely with Adobe Systems, offering advice and counsel on the development of Photoshop and Lightroom, with an emphasis on user outreach. As a certified Adobe instructor in Photoshop and Lightroom, he has authored the Adobe Certified Expert exam for Photoshop CS6, Lightroom 4 and Lightroom 5, as well as authored the Adobe Classroom in a Book series for Photoshop and Lightroom – the official curriculum for Adobe worldwide. He is Adobe Certified Instructor and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Secondary Education/English from SUNY Plattsburgh.

(We featured Adam Peruta yesterday. Stay tuned on social to learn more about panelist Dan Pacheco soon!) Charlie Miller of syracuse.com will moderate the panel.

This event is FREE for SPC members. Admission is $15 for nonmembers and $5 for students. Sandwiches and sides will be provided. A cash bar will be available.

Where: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, second floor.
When: Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 5:30 p.m.
Registration is REQUIRED to attend. RSVP HERE: https://forms.gle/eGjjx91Liiv5JoPD9

Full event details: https://syracusepressclub.org/news/syracuse-press-club-presents-ai-in-media-dinner-and-panel-discussion/

10/16/2024

Meet the experts speaking at our AI in Media panel on Oct. 23!

Syracuse Press Club’s 4th annual Media Mixer features a dinner and AI discussion with Syracuse University's Adam Peruta, RC Concepcion and Dan Pacheco.

Adam Peruta is an associate professor at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University and the director for the Advanced Media Management master’s program — a program that puts students at the intersection of media, technology, and business, all with a focus on emerging technologies.

He teaches courses in emerging media, UI/UX design, media entrepreneurship, and product development. For his efforts in the classroom, Syracuse University awarded him with the Meredith Teaching Award — the university’s highest honor for outstanding teaching. This year, students at the Newhouse school voted him professor of the year. Through his mentoring and advising, his students have won 90+ awards in national competitions.

Through his teaching and research, he examines issues such as how generative AI will impact the future of the media business and how media and communications professionals must adapt emerging technologies such as this. Adam is co-author of PROMPT, a series of practical guides to the foundational skills required for using language models like ChatGPT.

Outside of the classroom Adam is an avid endurance athlete, having completed numerous marathons, Ironman triathlons, ultra-distance triathlons, and ultramarathons at the 50 and 100-mile distances.

(Stay tuned on social to learn more about panelists RC and Dan in the coming days!) Charlie Miller of syracuse.com will moderate the panel.

This event is FREE for SPC members. Admission is $15 for nonmembers and $5 for students. Sandwiches and sides will be provided. A cash bar will be available.

Where: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, second floor.
When: Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 5:30 p.m.
Registration is REQUIRED to attend. RSVP HERE: https://forms.gle/eGjjx91Liiv5JoPD9

Full event details:
https://syracusepressclub.org/.../syracuse-press-club.../

10/03/2024

OK, media people — let's talk about AI. Like really talk about it.

Join us for Syracuse Press Club’s 4th annual Media Mixer, featuring a panel of AI experts from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.

What AI tools are quickly gaining interest among reporters, media professionals and students? What are best practices and industry standards? What media jobs are most likely to change as the use of AI becomes more widespread? Let’s dig into it.

The event features a dinner and AI discussion with Syracuse University's Adam Peruta, RC Concepcion and Dan Pacheco. Charlie Miller of syracuse.com will moderate.

The event is FREE for SPC members.

Admission is $15 for nonmembers and $5 for students. Sandwiches and sides will be provided. A cash bar will be available.

Where: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, second floor.
When: Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 5:30 p.m.

Registration is REQUIRED to attend. RSVP HERE: https://forms.gle/eGjjx91Liiv5JoPD9

Full event details:
https://syracusepressclub.org/news/syracuse-press-club-presents-ai-in-media-dinner-and-panel-discussion/

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)