Syracuse Press Club announces 2025 Professional Recognition Awards finalists

The Syracuse Press Club congratulates the finalists for the 48th annual Professional Recognition Awards.

The finalists for each category are listed alphabetically by the first author’s last name. We will reveal which entries placed first, second or received an honorable mention during our awards dinner on Saturday, May 2, 2026 at the Everson Museum of Art. This year also marks the club’s 75th anniversary.

For more information and to reserve your seat or table by April 20, 2026 , click here.

Why do some categories have more finalists?

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 372 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 behalf of the Syracuse Press Club, congratulations to our finalists and thanks to all of this year’s entrants for providing central and northern New York with essential journalism.

Finalists

Magazine

Best Overall Magazine

• • The Catholic Sun, SOLIS, Most Reverend Douglas J. Lucia, The Catholic Sun Staff

• • 315MOM Magazine, November / December 2025: Holiday Issue, Allison Kenien, Lauren Wojtalewski

Online and Digital Journalism

Multimedia Story

• • This is CNY, Syracuse’s Willy Wonka, Scientist quits job to launch Adam Brian Chocolate company, Katrina Tulloch, 

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, The trap of lies, sex and cruelty that killed Sam Nordquist: ‘We went too far this time’, Marnie Eisenstadt, Greta Stuckey, N. Scott Trimble, Christa Lemczak and Lauren Long 

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Cheap milk and immigration: A blunt farmer’s uncomfortable truth about NY’s dairy industry, Michelle Breidenbach and N. Scott Trimble 

• • Spectrum News 1, Exponential jump in homeless families has New York paying millions to hotels with no end in sight, Emily Kenny and Halena Sepulveda

Breaking News

• • Spectrum News 1, Correction officers strike, stage protests at dozens of prisons across N.Y., Spectrum News staff

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, A knock at the door, Marnie Eisenstadt and Samantha House

Best News Website

• • Central Current, Chris Libonati and Maximilian Eyle 

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, This is CNY, Advance Media NY staff

Best Use of Social Media

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, This is CNY, Shot O’Clock, Katrina Tulloch 

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Dozens deported during ICE raid, Alisun Hernandez, Samantha House

• • Spectrum News 1, Spectrum News on Instagram, Spectrum News digital staff

Best Blog / Newsletter

• • CNY Central, Brandon’s Bright Spot, Brandon Roth and Dennis Harmon

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Inside Syracuse football, Chris Carlson

• • Dirt Nap, Dirt Nap, Jared Paventi

Graphics

• • CNY Central, Why is heat the #1 killer?, Violet Scibor

Digital Video Journalism

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Upstate Adventures; Home explosion; Precious Arzuga, Christa Lemczak, N. Scott Trimble, Scott Schild

Photography

Carl Single Award for Spot News Photography

• • The Palladium-Times, Defendant claims self-defense in Mexico Tops Homicide, Ken Sturtz

• • Spectrum News 1, Employees wait outside the Nutrition Bar Confectioners factory during the Cato ICE raid, Emily Kenny

Feature Photo

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Pray with me, Dennis Nett

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Anticipation, Dennis Nett

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, We stand with Alex and Yan, N. Scott Trimble

Photo Essay

• • Central Current, A place to call home, Mike Greenlar, Michelle Gabel, Janet Gramza

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Inside Upstate’s overwhelmed ER, N. Scott Trimble

Portrait

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Counting the homeless, Scott Schild

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Inside the last supper at the Inn Between, Charlie Miller

• • Spectrum News 1, Sewage sludge, PFAS and contaminated drinking water, Emily Kenny

Sports Photo

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Syracuse Orange center Uche Izoje and Syracuse Orange Aurora Almón battle for a rebound, Scott Schild

• • Met News and Links, Another one bites the dust, Herm Card

• • Met News and Links, Ryan Clifford makes a low bridge to avoid a hit by pitch, Herm Card

Print/Digital News: All

Editorial

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Why is Sheriff Toby Shelley OK with handcuffing this 11-year-old child?, Marie Morelli 

• • CNY Central, It takes a lot to get a nickname, Rachel Culver

• • The Citizen, ICE’s inhumane playbook comes to Auburn, Michael Dowd

Spot News

• • Central Current, Nedrow’s Dragon China shuttered. ICE detained its owner, Patrick McCarthy

• • Tompkins Weekly, TeraWulf’s AI data center arrives at the shores of Cayuga Lake, Eddie Velazquez

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Inside the chaotic ICE raid at an Upstate NY factory, Marnie Eisenstadt, Michelle Breidenbach, Finn Lincoln

Column

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Wee Guide to Syracuse Bathrooms: The pot of luck you really need on St. Patrick’s Parade Day, Charlie Miller

• • The Palladium-Times, What do we do? We report the news, Charles Ellis

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Fran Brown’s comments on Trebor Pena tell a truth that Syracuse wouldn’t say out loud, Chris Carlson

Critique

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Creative starters and stellar service at The Wedge in Syracuse, but the inconsistencies linger, Jared Paventi

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, At Touche in Syracuse, an uneven pursuit of perfection, Jacob Pucci

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, No MAGA protests, just a screaming Spider-Man at the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus concert, Katrina Tulloch

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Inka’s brings tastes of Peru, pisco and ceviche to downtown Syracuse, Jared Paventi

Headline Writing

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Wee Guide to Syracuse bathrooms: The pot of luck you really need on St. Patrick’s Parade Day, Charlie Miller

• • The Palladium-Times, Her goose isn’t cooked: Case against lawyer accused of accosting children over geese dismissed, Charles Ellis 

• • CNY Central, Mary Kielar

Investigative Story or Series

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, The air is so toxic in Onondaga County’s new $23 million sewage building that workers can’t go inside, Glenn Coin

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Van Duyn’s shame: Nursing home’s out-of-town owners pocket millions while residents suffer, Douglas Dowty

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Inside Upstate New York’s more cruel, more aggressive immigration enforcement, Michelle Breidenbach

• • Central Current, Syracuse police expose drivers’ data to search from nationwide law enforcement, immigration officials, Patrick McCarthy

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, ‘Daddy Josh hit me’: Child welfare workers ignored red flags and sent a boy to his death, Marnie Eisenstadt

Print/Digital News: Daily

Human Interest Feature or Series

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Syracuse church yanks late bishop’s name from building. A sex abuse survivor’s request granted, Jon Moss

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Trailblazers and Trendsetters, Katrina Tulloch

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Meet the 77-year-old Vietnam pilot still in love with lacrosse and scoring on opponents 50 years younger, Connor Pignatello

Sports Story

• • Central Current, Sean Kirst: In this city so rich in hoops history, why I asked my students to remember Lawrence Moten, Sean Kirst

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, 10 camps, 10 days, Connor Pignatello

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, How Syracuse players spent their first paycheck: ‘It made me feel like I did something right’, Chris Carlson, Javon Edmonds, Brent Axe and Justin Girshon

News Feature or Series

• • Central Current, Before the Deportation, Chris Libonati 

• • Central Current, ICE rattled a Central New York village. Then, its police chief partnered with ICE, Patrick McCarthy

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Inside Upstate’s overwhelmed ER: Where miracles happen and dignity is a casualty, Douglass Dowty

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, Inside the last supper at the Inn Between, an iconic restaurant that served memories, Charlie Miller

• • Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, County promised great-grandma she could stay in her home forever. Now she’s being pushed out for Micron, Glenn Coin

Print/Digital News: Non-Daily or Special Interest

Sports Story

• • The Reporter, Sandy at 90 – That’s how to be a good Jew, Bill Simons

News Feature or Series

• • The Catholic Sun, Seeking hospitality for the homeless / Every effort counts, Elizabeth Landry and Tami S. Scott

Human Interest Feature or Series

• • Offrange, Turkeys grazing under solar panels, Jake Zajkowski

• • Syracuse University School of Education, InclusiveU talks about sex, consent and healthy relationships, Ashley Kang

• • The Catholic Sun, Sweet dreams, Child, Eileen Jevis

• • Offrange, Wheat in your backyard, Jake Zajkowski

• • Central Current, Sean Kirst: On Valley hillside, bond of revered lacrosse coach, beloved stickmakers lives on in one young tree, Sean Kirst

Audio Journalism

Human Interest Feature or Series

• • WAER Syracuse Public Media, Sober Gym brings connection, strength and recovery to Syracuse, Evan Fay

Best Interview

• • 95.5 FM The Heat, Herkimer, NY family torn apart by ICE, Ron Klopfanstein 

• • WCNY, Road to redemption, David Lombardo

News Feature or Series

• • WAER Syracuse Public Media, Second No Kings rally in Syracuse draws thousands in protest of President Donald Trump, Cate Collins and Brycen Pace

• • WAER Syracuse Public Media, Hamlet of Clark Mills tries to recover after a deadly EF-1 tornado kills three, including twin girls, Alex Past

• • 95.5 FM The Heat, Special Coverage of Transgender Rights Issues, Ron Klopfanstein and Jim Hale

Sports Show

• • CNY Central, Why am I a Mets fan?, Samantha Croston and Ashley Wenskoski

Sports Story

• • Galaxy Media Partners WTKW, Syracuse Basketball and Name, Image and Likeness, Glenn Gomez Adams and Lisa Chelenza

Special Program

• • WAER Syracuse Public Media, Five years after COVID-19, is New York ready for the next pandemic?, Kat Kollins

Regularly Scheduled News Podcast / Radio Program

• • WCNY, Inside Planet Albany, David Lombardo

• • WAER Syracuse Public Media, The American Dream: Stories of the diverse, shifting nature of people’s North Star, Chris Bolt and Chris Fiegel

Student

Student Audio News Story

• • NCC News, Learning without a lifeline, Sofia Destaso

Student Audio Sports Story

• • SUNY Oswego, Equity in SUNY Oswego Athletics, Addie Kotsol

Student Podcast

• • On the Bandwagon, On the Bandwagon staff

Student Audio Feature News Story

• • WAER, Rocky Horror turns 50, Boone Kilpatrick

Student Best Use of Multimedia

• • On the Bandwagon, On the Bandwagon staff

Student Print/Digital News Story

• • Central Current, Three Baldwinsville police officers took ‘demeaning’ photo of prisoner in 2005, documents reveal, Ahna Fleming, Ellie Rockoff and Brian Cohen 

• • The Daily Orange, ‘Feels like erasure’: SU students denounce ODI closure, People and Culture replacement, Julia Boehning

• • The NewsHouse, Narcan is changing Central New York’s approach to overdoses, Kacie Moschella

Student Print/Digital Feature Story

• • The Daily Orange, The Peacekeeper: Oren Lyons’ endless quest to preserve Indigenous values, Cooper Andrews

• • The Daily Orange, Sign Guy wants you to see his positive messages, not know his name, Charlotte Price

• • The Daily Orange, Lacrosse Artist: Roy Simmons Jr. didn’t just teach lacrosse, Zachary Wolf

• • The Daily Orange, How Scott Hanson’s Syracuse walk-on career prepped his broadcasting stardom, Aiden Stepansky

Student Print/Digital Sports Story

• • The NewsHouse, Upstate baseball booms with Canal, Jack Belanger and Eric Finley

• • The NewsHouse, Female interns speak out on bias and double standards within SU football, Lily Newman

• • The Daily Orange, A Dream Life: Lawrence ‘Poetry’ Moten remembered as girl dad, SU’s greatest scorer, Cooper Andrews

• • The Daily Orange, Free spirit: Within an exuberant personality, Tiana Mangakahia lived her life to the fullest, Mauricio Palmar

Student Television/Video News Story

• • Citrus TV, No King’s Rally takes over Erie Boulevard, Moira Vaughan

• • NCC News and Citrus TV, Immigration enforcement in CNY affecting agriculture industry, Jackson Breslin

Student Television/Video Feature Story

• • NCC News, Hire Ground: Hand up, not hand out, Devin Andrews, Alex Fairchild and Dillon Buck

• • NCC News, A woven history: Native traditions kept alive through art, Anjana Dasam

Student Television/ Video Sports Story

• • SUNY Oswego, Rivalry, Robert Finger

Television

Investigative Story or Series

• • WSYR, Missed Warnings, Rachel Polansky, Tom Cunningham, Will Houle, Jack Estabrook

• • CNY Central, Disturbing confessions in court docs, Conor Wight

Special Program

• • Spectrum News 1, A look back at the Dannemora Prison break 10 years later, Brian Dwyer, Jeff Goldberg, Mike Kuehner, Rebecca Frazier, Andrew Henderson, Ray Sullivan 

• • WSYR, Newsmakers, Andrew Donovan, Will Houle, Jeff Mercer

• • CNY Central, Black history month special, Barbara Barrino

Sports Show

• • CNY Central, The Orange Zone podcast, Samantha Croston, Ashley Wenskoski, Rachel Culver

Sportscast

• • CNY Central, Fran Brown’s highlight reel, Ashley Wenskoski

• • WSYR, Friday Night Fever Oct. 17, 2025, Steven Infanti, Mario Sacco, Maddie Mustion

Sports Story

• • CNY Central, The only color we see is orange, Ashley Wenskoski

• • Spectrum News 1, Upstate N.Y. adaptive golfer representing Team USA at international competition, Noah Love

• • CNY Central, Lawrence Moten Tribute, Samantha Croston, Matthew Landers

Spot News

• • WSYR, Maria Regina Fire, NewsChannel 9 staff

• • CNY Central, NBC 3: Mid-State Officers indictment, Brandon Ladd, Matt Mulcahy

• • WWNY, On the line of illegal strikes, Lexi Bruening

Photo Essay

• • Spectrum News 1, Faces of the Fair: Showing horses at the fairgrounds, Krystal Cole

Broadcast Video Journalism

• • Spectrum News 1, History of iconic dishes and food in New York, Shalon Stevens and Mike Kuehner

• • Spectrum News 1, Krystal Cole

News Feature Short Form (less than 2:30)

• • CNY Central, Alex and Yan’s story, Mary Kielar

• • CNY Central, Sisters reflect on demolition of Maria Regina, Gary Robinson Jr.

• • CNY Central, Mother shares heartbreak after husband taken, Mary Kielar

• • Spectrum News 1, Parent starts adaptive cornhole league, Shalon Stevens

News Feature Long Form (2:30+)

• • CNY Central, 3rd graders march to city hall, Megan Coleman

• • Spectrum News 1, ‘I’m sad and alone’: Man detained in Cato ICE raid wrongfully deported and now separated from his family, Natalie Mooney and Emily Kenny

• • WSYR, SNUG workers caught on camera, Rachel Polansky, Tom Cunningham, Will Houle and Jack Estabrook

Best Weathercast

• • CNY Central, Meteorologist Mike Brookins 12/30/25, Mike Brookins

Human Interest Feature or Series

• • CNY Central, BHM: Clothing designer, Michael Benny and Barbara Barrino

• • CNY Central, Painting of the Boeheim mural, Samantha Croston, Matthew Landers

• • WSYR, Mac the Wallaby, Kendra Broddus and Will Houle

• • WSYR, Remarkable woman Nancy Chappel, Christie Casciano and Jack Estabrook

• • Spectrum News 1, Cortland adopts songwriter’s tribute to his hometown, Krystal Cole

Best Local Newscast

• • Spectrum News 1, Spectrum News 1’s newscast from Feb. 13, 2025, Nicholas Endres, Michelle Houston, Kelly Law, Lacey Leonardi, Krystal Cole, Rebecca Frazier, Mike Kuehner, Jack Durkin, Kristy Kasper and Dominic LoVallo

• • WWNY, 7NEWS THIS EVENING with Jeff Cole Feb. 19, Jeff Cole, Erin Bischoff and 7NEWS Team

• • WWNY, 7NEWS THIS EVENING with Jeff Cole Feb. 17, Jeff Cole, Erin Bischoff and 7NEWS Tea