The Syracuse Press Club is pleased to announce the winner of our 2023 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 Andy Wolf, news photographer at CNYCentral (NBC 3/CBS 5)!
Andy Wolf started out making a living working in a factory that builds buses. One day he realized that was not the career path he wanted to take. So he quit that job and went back to school full time at Herkimer Community College for Radio and Television.
That led to his first job as a news photographer at WBNG-TV in Binghamton. That gave him enough experience to get a job in Charlotte, North Carolina at WBTV as a news photographer. After two years he wanted to return home to Central New York and took a news photographer job with WSTM in Syracuse, where he has been doing award-winning work ever since.
In fact, the vast majority of awards earned in the NBC 3/CBS 5 newsroom over the last 25 years are stories, newscasts and special projects shot and edited by Andy Wolf.
Investigative reporter Jim Kenyon teamed with Wolf for years forming a formidable unit that left public officials feeling compelled to tell them the whole story. It seemed every year when it came time to hand out the Press Club Award for Television’s Best Investigative Story, the names Jim Kenyon and Andy Wolf followed.
Andy has an eye for photo composition derived from a side passion for filmmaking. He has a mastery of lighting that adds mood and focus to interviews and live locations. His command of video and audio editing technique breathes life into television storytelling.
Those talents brought an Emmy Award to Andy for the education story “The Map: Desegregated Schools.” He also has numerous nominations for New York Emmy Awards for his overseas coverage of the Canonization of Mother Marianne Cope, medical reporting from the operating room witnessing Transaortic Valve Replacement and an investigative documentary in the case of kidnapping victim Heidi Allen. Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio, Television and Digital News Association, New York State Broadcaster Awards and Associated Press Broadcaster Awards are all on Andy Wolf’s resume.
In his nomination of Wolf, Matt Mulcahy, SPC’s 2016 Journalist of the Year, wrote:
“When anchors Michael Benny and Megan Coleman create compelling television news stories, Andy Wolf is there. When news managers decide to move a critical political debate to an unusual live location, Andy Wolf is there. When new multimedia journalists with loads of talent, but less experience are learning the fundamental skills of the business, Andy Wolf is there. He sets a standard, a Professional Standard of Excellence. It is one worth modeling, worth honoring and worth remembering for a long time to come. Andy Wolf is the best at what he does. We are all fortunate he chose to make the Syracuse television market his home.”
Sean Carroll, News Director of NBC 3, CBS 5, CW 6 and CNYcentral.com, wrote:
“As journalists we can all think of investigations, assignments, and events that perhaps showcased our peak performance at this craft. I’ve found, the greatest among us struggle to pick just one or two moments. Long ago they developed an expectation for themselves that is to be met every single day; no matter the assignment, no matter the obstacles they confront. Andy Wolf is one of those great journalists. Our best day, is his every day. That he does so in a cooperative, friendly, and unassuming way speaks to the character we all hope for in our profession’s standard-bearers.”
Andy Wolf’s former WSTM colleague Laura Hand, an esteemed inductee of the Syracuse Press Club Wall of Distinction, wrote:
“Andy Wolf has always set the standard for professional excellence in the CNYCentral newsroom. When we worked as a team, his quick grasp of the story allowed him to gather and edit the visual part of the story, in a way that made it interesting and easy to understand. When he worked independently as a photojournalist, he consistently gathered the best images, and often added information he gathered at the scene, to add to the content and clarity of the story.”
Congratulations, Andy Wolf! We look forward to honoring you and your incredible work at our SPC awards banquet on Saturday, May 6, 2023.
Meet past winners: