The Syracuse Press Club is thrilled to announce the winner of our 2022 Selwyn Kershaw Professional Standards Award. This award is presented to individuals whose high standards in performing their work serve as an inspiration to others.
Congratulations to Chris Bolt, the general manager of WAER.
Chris Bolt, Ed.D. has covered the Central New York community and mentored students for more than 30 years. His career in public media started as a student volunteer, then as a reporter/producer. He served as the news director for WAER since 1995. His work has appeared on NPR, CBS, ABC and other news networks, winning numerous local and state journalism awards.
His recent reporting has focused on health and medicine, environment, elderly, substance abuse and culture reporting.
Dedicated to keeping local news coverage alive, Chris also has a passion for education, having trained, mentored and provided a platform for growth to more than a thousand students. Chris has a doctor of education in executive leadership from St. John Fisher College and a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from the Newhouse School. He has also taught classes at Newhouse and at OCC.
In his nomination of Bolt, Syracuse University News Services media manager Keith Kobland wrote: “He’s not only reported on some of CNY’s biggest stories, he’s also played a key role in mentoring the many Newhouse students (including our sports cohort) who currently grace the airwaves of many of the nations biggest broadcast outlets. He does this without much fanfare, but I’m guessing all of the SPC board and many of its members have worked with Chris on projects, news stories, or simply at the scene of a crime, and have found him to be a trusted voice and person in the CNY news landscape.”
Chris and his wife Anne have two grown sons, Carter and Donovan, who both remain in the area. Their family enjoys all things Upstate New York, including myriad outdoor activities in the Adirondacks, Finger Lakes, music and other cultural events, and just about anything on a trail or on the water.
Congratulations, Chris! We look forward to honoring you and your incredible work at our awards banquet on May 7, 2022.
Meet past winners: