The Syracuse Press Club is thrilled to announce the winner of our 2021 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 Jason Murray, who worked at The Post-Standard and syracuse.com for 17 years.
A native of the Bay Area, Jason received his undergraduate degree from St. Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif., and a master’s in journalism from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.
Jason joined the sports department as a copy editor and also served as an assignment editor and sports editor before becoming the director of audience and visuals. He was also a member of the editorial board.
In his nomination of Jason, Syracuse.com director of content John Lammers wrote:
“Jason Murray built a work history unlike any ever seen here. That’s because Jason combined more varied roles than anyone ever at The Post-Standard and Syracuse.com. And, he excelled at a crucial turning point in the history of the organization.
As sports editor, he led our coverage of Syracuse sports successes as well as NCAA violations and scandals. We won countless state and national awards for distinguished journalism, while battling national competition that no other department here faces. Jason took a leadership role in the national Associated Press Sports Editors group.
When it came to transitioning from a print operation to digital-first news coverage, sports went first at The Post-Standard, and Jason led the way. It required a strategic approach but also the kind of communication skills and human touch that have always made Jason everyone’s favorite boss.
There are some egos in a newsroom, you may be surprised to hear, and Jason figured out how to gently move the sports staff to new and uncomfortable places. Sports pioneered our digital growth.
But his interests were broader than sports. He became an expert in our technology. He led on photo and video. He took interest in bigger matters. Somehow, it seemed perfectly normal for him to be named to the newspaper’s editorial board, interviewing U.S. senators and defining the editorial voice of the company. That’s all while he ran the all-day, everyday sports operation. Is there another sports editor in America doing that?
Eventually, his sprawling skillset and interests were reflected in a promotion in 2019 to director of content, running all visuals, digital operations and audience strategy. It’s a job we made up for Jason.
But more than anything, Jason is the guy I’d call at 7 a.m. or at 10:30 p.m., and we’d solve all the problems and plan our attack on the work at hand. Or just vent. If I was going to do something important, and possibly stupid, I ran it by him first.
Others relied on him this way, giving him an unofficial role in almost anything good that ever happened in the place.
Last summer, Jason took a job at the Washington Post, running their NBA and college sports coverage from Camillus. It broke our hearts, but it shows how valuable he’s become.
Let’s give due credit to a man who, through his work and his times, became one of the most consequential journalists and news executives in the history of Syracuse.”
Jason is now an assignment editor at The Washington Post for the NBA and college sports.
Congratulations, Jason! We look forward to honoring you and your incredible work at our awards banquet on Sept. 25, 2021.
Meet last year’s winner: Cortland Standard’s Al Vieira selected for 2020 Professional Standards Award