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 Fort Drum.
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.”
We honor their efforts to promote open government.
Thank you both for setting strong examples for news sources, news advocates and public information experts across Central New York.
Meet past winners:
• The 2023 Transparency Award went to Jeff Wernick of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)
• The 2022 News Source of the Year was Deanna Ryan of the Cayuga County Health Department.
• The 2021 News Source of the Year was Kathleen Paice Froio of Upstate Medical University.
• The 2020 News Source of the Year was the Onondaga County Clerk’s Office.