The Syracuse Press Club annually recognizes a Journalist of the Year who stands out among their peers for their 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. Incomplete entries will not be considered.

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). Bill was a Syracuse Press Club Wall of Distinction honoree, and a recipient of the Bliven-Ganley-Rossi Career Achievement Award. He had won three Emmys, six RTNDA Murrow Awards and dozens of awards from the Syracuse Press Club and New York Associated Press Broadcasters Association. 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.