The Syracuse Press Club congratulates the winners of the 47th annual Professional Recognition Awards.
The recipients were honored during our awards dinner on Saturday, May 3, 2025 at the Collegian Hotel, Syracuse.
To make our contest more equitable across categories and to maintain its competitiveness, we limit the number of awards in each category based on the number of entries. For example, if a category has three submissions, only the top-ranked entry will receive a prize. If a category has 15 or more entries, first place, second place, and two honorable mentions could be awarded. You can review the complete scale on the contest’s rules and eligibility page.
We do give the judges discretion. If the judges determine some entries in a category fail to meet the threshold of award quality, they may choose to select as few award recipients as they deem appropriate.
Stiff Competition
We received 390 entries across 56 categories. Our judges from partner press clubs in California, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin had the daunting task of reviewing and ranking the top entries for each category. On average, fewer than one-third of the entries submitted in each category earned a spot on the finalists’ list.
On behalf of the Syracuse Press Club, congratulations to our winners and thanks to all of this year’s entrants for providing central and northern New York with essential journalism.
Award Recipients
Magazine
Best Overall Magazine
- First Place: Friends of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, MyZoo Magazine
- Second Place: Central New York Magazine, Central New York Magazine January/February 2024
- Honorable Mention: New York Horse, New York Horse/Equine Alley Almanac
Best Newsletter or Trade Publication
- First Place: Advance Media New York, Central Upstate Mfg. Edition 12
Digital Journalism: All
Multimedia Story
- First Place: Newhouse Spotlight Team, Chipped Away, John Perik, Lilli Iannella, Finn Lincoln, Julie Gilchrest
- Second Place: Central Current, Asha Laaya ‘Farm of Hope’ added 14 acres to its farm. Now it needs staff to expand its reach, Yolanda Stewart, Michelle Gabel
- Honorable Mention: Spectrum News 1, Local nonprofit feeds hundreds Thanksgiving dinner in Syracuse, Emily Kenny
- Honorable Mention: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, A child’s death and a mystery: How did Mehlaya get the fentanyl?, Rylee Kirk, Katrina Tulloch
Breaking News
- First Place: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, A little girl’s death remained secret for 3 months until 2 women asked: Where’s Neffy?, Marnie Eisenstadt
- Second Place: Spectrum News 1, Hochul tours Rome tornado damage, Luke Parsnow, Shalon Stevens, Krystal Cole
Best News Website
- First Place: urbancny.com/ Urban CNY News, Kenneth Jackson
Best Use of Social Media
- First Place: Friends of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, Rosamond Gifford Zoo, Camille Murphy
- Second Place: Cortland Standard, Cortland Kickback, Lily Byrne
Best Blog
- First Place: WCNY, Capitol Notes, David Lombardo
- Second Place: urbancny.com/ Urban CNY News, The Hall Monitor, Kenneth Jackson
Graphics
- First Place: Spectrum News 1, Follow this path if you have one day to attend the New York State Fair, Emily Kenny
Digital Video Journalism
- First Place: CNY Central, Weather Wisdom, Violet Scibior
- Second Place: urbancny.com/ Urban CNY News, Inspiration for the Nation, George A. Kilpatrick
Photography
Carl Single Award for Spot News Photography
- First Place: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Police in Mourning, Dennis Nett
- Second Place: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Syracuse house collapse: 3 children in ‘critically stable’ condition at hospital, Charlie Miller
Feature Photo
- First Place: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Police officer’s widow escorted into funeral, Scott Schild
- Second Place: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Syracuse Stares at the Sun, Katrina Tulloch
- Honorable Mention: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Long Jump, Scott Schild
Photo Essay
- First Place: The Citizen, Roseann’s story of homelessness in Auburn, Kevin Rivoli
Portrait
- First Place: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, His and Hers Elections, N. Scott Trimble
Sports Photo
- First Place: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Crosscheck, Scott Schild
- Second Place: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Balancing Act, N. Scott Trimble
- Honorable Mention: Mets News and Links, Air Bannon, Herm Card
- Honorable Mention: Syracuse.com | Post Standard, Emotions after scoring, Scott Schild
Print News
Front Page Design
- First Place: The Palladium-Times, Trump Guilty, Charles Ellis
Print/Digital News: All
Editorial
- First Place: The Citizen, Mourn the slain Syracuse officers, but leave politics out of it, Michael Dowd
- Second Place: Cortland Standard, A Recipe for Senior Services, Todd R. McAdam
- Honorable Mention: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Syracuse amp lawn chair ban smells like another Live Nation money grab, Marie Morelli
Spot News
- First Place: The Citizen, Coverage of Wells College’s closure, Robert Harding, Kevin Rivoli, Christopher Malone
- Second Place: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Tornado tears through Rome, Glenn Coin, James McClendon, Rylee Kirk, Jon Moss, N. Scott Trimble
- Honorable Mention: The Palladium-Times, For 3½ minutes, Oswego goes dark, Ken Sturtz, Mike Perkins, Nate Sprenger, Josh St. Croix, Charles Ellis
Column
- First Place: Cortland Standard, Being a Victim Leaves Lasting Scars, Kevin T. Conlon
- Second Place: The Reporter, Columbia protesters chant, “No More Money for Israel Crime”, Bill Simons
Critique
- First Place: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, You can’t escape death, so you might as well dance (Flaming Lips Review), Katrina Tulloch
- Second Place: Utica Phoenix Media, All Good Things Come to an End: “Nolly,” a three-part series, solves one of the most intriguing mysteries of British popular culture and celebrates the life’s work of a TV trailblazer, Ron Klopfanstein
- Honorable Mention: Cortland Standard, My Fair Lady’: A painfully relevant classic at CRT, Lily Byrne
Headline Writing
- First Place: Central Current, Oswego wanted to be ‘ahead of the curve’ on public homelessness. So the city criminalized it, Eddie Velazquez
- Second Place: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, A whopper of a deal: Why Burger King is swallowing Syracuse’s Carrols for $1 billion, Teri Weaver, Rick Moriarty
- Honorable Mention: The Citizen, Welsh Allyn, ‘SALT’-y, Ode from a Nightengale, Robert Harding
Investigative Story or Series
- First Place: USA TODAY Network-New York, Syracuse University, Central Current, Driving Force series, Maria Birnell, Evan Butow, Kayla Canne, Daniel DeLoach, Anna Ginelli, Jon Glass, Seth Harrison, Nausheen Husain, Hayden Kim, Chris Libonati, Beryl Lipton, Tina MacIntyre-Yee, Peter Pietrangelo, William Ramsey, David Robinson, Kyle Slagle, Eden Stratton, Sarah Taddeo, Jodi Upton, Marili Vaca
- Second Place: The Citizen, ‘Lacking’ in leadership: Ex-Auburn official, county legislator accused of bullying, absenteeism, David Wilcox
- Honorable Mention: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Everyone knew Ashton was in danger. Why didn’t someone rescue him from his horror?, Marnie Eisenstadt
- Honorable Mention: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, They came to America to make a living. They died on a bus that was outside the law, Rylee Kirk, Michelle Breidenbach, Jesus Feliciano-Batista, Fernando Alba
Print/Digital News: Daily
Human Interest Feature or Series
- First Place: The Citizen, She saved my life’: Cayuga County women reconnect through liver donation, Christopher Malone
- Second Place: The Palladium-Times, She was a poet, but she didn’t always know it, Ken Sturtz
- Honorable Mention: Central Current, Syracuse’s South Side says goodbye to community staple Timbuk Tu African Imports after 30 years, Yolanda Stewart
- Honorable Mention: Cortland Standard, A lifetime of art, Lily Byrne
Sports Story
- First Place: The Citizen, Instrumental role: Auburn native talks bagpiping for championship Notre Dame lacrosse team, Jacob Urish
- Second Place: The Palladium-Times, Cotton makes immediate impact in Cortland football return, Josh St. Croix
News Feature or Series
- First Place: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, The rise of the Kia Boys: Inside the fad and failures that feed Syracuse’s epidemic of teen car thieves, Marnie Eisenstadt, Darian Stevenson
- Second Place: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, How a blue wall of silence let Central NY prison guards get away with day of terror, Tim Knauss, Douglass Dowty
- Honorable Mention: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, On one chaotic block, the heartless prey on the homeless. A shelter has finally had enough, Marnie Eisenstadt
- Honorable Mention: The Daily Sentinel, Community in Crisis: Utica mourns death of 13-year-old Nyah Mway, Sean I. Mills, Thomas Caputo, John Clifford, Nancy L. Ford
Print/Digital News: Non-Daily or Special Interest
Sports Story
- First Place: SUNY Morrisville – Momentum Magazine, Coach Whisperer, Janis Barth
News Feature or Series
- First Place: Syracuse University School of Education Magazine, “Very Much Needed”: Indigenous Educators Discuss School of Education’s New Indigenous Teacher Preparation Fund,
Ashley Kang - Second Place: The Catholic Sun, Blessed Carlo Devotees Share Love, Tami S. Scott
Human Interest Feature or Series
- First Place: The Catholic Sun, A Story of Transformation, Eileen Jevis
- Second Place: CNY Magazine, Welcome to the Jungle, MJ Kravec
- Honorable Mention: The Catholic Sun, Ironman with a tender heart, Deacon Tom Cuskey
Audio Journalism
Human Interest Feature or Series
- First Place: WAER Syracuse Public Media, How Marathon New York is providing relief for Hurricane Helene victims, Sean Tessler
Investigative Story or Series
- First Place: Newhouse Spotlight Team, Green Black Market, Jamie Korenblat, Josh Feldstein
Best Interview
- First Place: WTKW | Galaxy Media Partners, DA Bill Fitzpatrick looking for the why, Glenn Gomez Adams, Lisa Chelenza
- Second Place: WTKW | Galaxy Media Partners, SU coach Felisha Legette-Jack is ACC coach of the year, Glenn Gomez Adams
- Honorable Mention: WSKO The Score 1260 | Cumulus Media, The Perfect Game, Jim Lerch, Paul A. Esden Jr.
News Feature or Series
- First Place: WAER Syracuse Public Media, SU student fights conduct sanctions over pro-Palestinian protests, Natasha Senjanovic, Patrick McCullough
- Second Place: WAER Syracuse Public Media, Onondaga County voter registration soars; election commissioners request more staff, Scott Willis
Sports Show
- First Place: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Shout! The Buffalo Football Podcast, Matt Parrino, Ryan Talbot
- Second Place: Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Syracuse Sports with Brent Axe, Brent Axe
Sports Story
- First Place: WAER Syracuse Public Media, Remembering Syracuse Football Coach Dick MacPherson, Tyler Aitken
Special Program
- First Place: WAER Syracuse Public Media, Syracuse Speaks: A deep dive into the evolving opioid epidemic in Onondaga County, Scott Willis, John Smith, Kat Kollins, Bob Beck, Natasha Senjanovic
- Second Place: WCNY – The Capitol Pressroom, Legislating 101, David Lombardo
Student
Student Audio News Story
- First Place: Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Why a small Adirondack mountain has made big, even Olympic, waves in skiing, Nate Harrington
- Second Place: SUNY Oswego, Women Seek Safe Space at Gym, Emma Kerl
Student Audio Sports Story
- First Place: SUNY Oswego, Kennedy Lends Experience to Oswego Basketball Roster, Parker Vooris
Student Podcast
- First Place: Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Canal Keepers: Eerie Encounters, Sophia Anastasakis, Gloria Rivera, Dan Klowsowski
Student Best Use of Multimedia
- First Place: Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Canal Keepers, Canal Keepers Staff
Student Print/Digital News Story
- First Place: The Daily Orange, Eroding education: The state of African American Studies at Syracuse University, Ahna Fleming, Kendall Luther
- Second Place: The Daily Orange, Falk College restructure leaves faculty, students with uncertainty, Kendall Luther
- Honorable Mention: Utica University Tangerine, Bear euthanizations spark call for action among Old Forge residents, Breannan O’Hara
Student Print/Digital Feature Story
- First Place: Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Forever Young, Seth Quinn
- Second Place: The Daily Orange, Syracuse Mets host the only minor league baseball game on eclipse day, Aiden Stepansky
- Honorable Mention: Utica University Tangerine, Jeffrey Siegel to perform Keyboard Conversations at Munson on March 24, Diana Sidorevich
- Honorable Mention: The Daily Orange, Dan Engelstad’s unorthodox journey led him to Syracuse assistant role, Zachary Wolf
Student Print/Digital Sports Story
- First Place: The Daily Orange, IMMORTAL: Paul Gait’s revolutionary lacrosse life encapsulates jersey retirement at SU, Cooper Andrews
- Second Place: The Daily Orange, Joey Spallina searching to lead USA Box Lacrosse to 1st-ever gold medal, Zachary Wolf
- Honorable Mention: The Daily Orange, STILL HERE: Gerry McNamara has remained consistent through promotion to associate head coach, Henry O’Brien
Student Television/Video News Story
- First Place: Newhouse at Syracuse – NCC News, NY-3: The Special Election to Replace Santos, Chilekasi C Adele
- Second Place: Newhouse at Syracuse – NCC News, Child Poverty Rate in Syracuse Remains High; How the Community is Responding, Max Williams
- Honorable Mention: Citrus TV, Remembering Annie Eisner, Tyler Oldano, CitrusTV News Staff
Student Television/Video Feature Story
- First Place: Newhouse at Syracuse – NCC News, Welding with a purpose: empowering women at Ironwood Studios, Moira Vaughan
- Second Place: Newhouse at Syracuse- NCC News, Central New York Drive-In Opens for First Time in 40 Years, Max Williams
Television
Investigative Story or Series
- First Place: Newhouse Spotlight Team, Green Black Market, Zach Richter, Jamie Korenblat, Josh Feldstein, Nardeen Saleep
- Second Place: WWNY, Former Ivy Ridge Worker Speaks to 7, Diane Rutherford, Trevor Payant
- Honorable Mention: WSYR-TV, Inside Ashton’s Home, Rachel Polansky, Tom Cunningham, Jack Estabrook
Special Program
- First Place: WSYR-TV, Honoring Black History, Iris St Meran, Chrissi Galvin, Jack Estabrook
- Second Place (tie): CNY Central, Black History Month: The Hidden Gems of CNY, Barb Barrino, Michael Benny, Allura Leggard
- Second Place (tie): CNY Central, 22nd Congressional District Debate, Brandon Ladd, Lane Russell, Michael Benny, Matt Mulcahy, Megan Coleman
- Honorable Mention: WCNY, Behind the Woman: Felisha Legette-Jack, Francis Tavino, Jenna Fields, Sharlene Richards, Doug Moreau, Juhanna Rogers
Sports Show
- First Place: WCNY, Inclusive Sports, Doug Moreau, Wendy Wang, Alec Ambruso, Josh Patch, Ryan Hill, Sharlene Richards, Bruce Jans, Jenna Fields
- Second Place: CNY Central, Pay to Play, Brandon Ladd, Matt Mulcahy, Samantha Croston
- Honorable Mention: CNY Central, Why am I a Met’s fan?, Ashley Wenskoski , Samantha Croston
Sportscast
- First Place: WBNG-TV, The 12 SportsDesk Live from the Section IV High School Football Championships, Zach Grady, Tanya Cleary, Michael Villegas, Keith Savage, Luke Meade
Sports Story
- First Place: WPBS, Girls’ Wrestling Expands, Michael Riecke, Luke Smith
- Second Place: WSYR-TV, SU Soccer Player’s Connection with Young Fan, Maddie Mustion
- Honorable Mention: Spectrum News 1, Two of a kind: Soccer twins making mark on separate pitches, Jackson Wang, Jesse MacWilliam
Spot News
- First Place: WSYR-TV, Two Officers Shot & Killed, NewsChannel 9 Staff
- Second Place: Spectrum News 1, Rome Tornado Breaking News Coverage, Ray Sullivan, Andrew Henderson, Rebecca Frazier, Casey Bortnick, Marisa Jacques, Melissa Krull, Shalon Stevens, Dan Bazile, Julie Chapman, Krystal Cole, Justin Velazquez, Mike Kuehner
Photo Essay
- First Place: Spectrum News 1, Bridgewater Woman Pursues Vision of Music, Melissa Krull
- Second Place: CNY Central, A new film, ‘The Legend of Juan Jose Mundo’ is filming in Syracuse, Westbrook Shortell
Television Video Journalism
- First Place: WSYR-TV, Will Houle
News Feature Short From (less than 2:30)
- First Place: Spectrum News 1, Organ Donation, Shalon Stevens, Mike Kuehner
- Second Place: WSYR-TV, Your Stories: Contractor Scam, Kendra Broddus, Will Houle
- Honorable Mention: WSYR-TV, Jeanette Epps Journey into Space, Andrew Donovan, Will Houle
- Honorable Mention: CNY Central, Firefighters who responded to Carbon St., Matt Mulcahy
News Feature Long Form (2:30+)
- First Place: CNY Central, Look for Helpers, Michael Benny, Lane Russell, Steve Ali
- Second Place: WSYR-TV, Karl’s Klocks, It’s About Time, Rachel Polansky, Tom Cunningham, Will Houle, Jack Estabrook
Best Weathercast
- First Place: WSYR-TV, 5:30 am July 10: Remnants of Beryl in CNY, Kate Thornton
Human Interest Feature or Series
- First Place: WSYR-TV, Local Veterans Find Fulfillment Through Farming,
Ryan Dean, Will Houle - Second Place: CNY Central, Remembering Syracuse adult literacy pioneer Ruth Colvin, Michael Benny
- Honorable Mention: WSYR-TV, A24 Invader Heads to Normandy, Grant DeBruin, Andrew Gregory, Shawn Wayson
Best Local Newscast
- First Place: WSYR-TV, 6:30 a.m. July 17: Rome/Canastota Tornado, Bridget Brogan, WSYR-TV Staff
- Second Place: CNY Central, NBC 3’s 6 p.m. Coverage: Rome Tornado, Matt Mulcahy, Megan Coleman, Rachel Culver, CNY Central Staff
- Honorable Mention: WWNY, 7NEWS This Evening with Jeff Cole – Oct. 29, Jeff Cole, Erin Bischoff, 7NEWS Staff