The Syracuse Press Club is pleased to announce Kevin Rivoli of The Citizen as the 2020 winner of the prestigious Bill Carey Journalist of the Year Award.
The club annually recognizes a Journalist of the Year who stands out among his or her peers for contributions to news coverage in a 12-month period.
Kevin is a staff photographer/videographer for The Citizen in Auburn, N.Y. He taught himself how to shoot in 1987 and landed a job as a staff photographer at The Citizen in October 1988.
He left The Citizen in 1996 to work for newspapers, magazines and news wire services, including The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, The Syracuse Post-Standard, The New York Times, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and the Associated Press. In 2008, Rivoli published his first book, “In Search of Norman Rockwell’s America.”
Kevin returned to The Citizen in October 2016 as a staff photographer covering daily life in Auburn and the Cayuga County area.
Kevin has also been named the National Press Photographers Association Photographer of the Year in the New York/International Region in 1989, 1991, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
In a nomination for Rivoli’s 2019 portfolio, The Citizen’s executive editor Jeremy Boyer writes:
“You’ll see work that reflects Kevin Rivoli’s two greatest strengths among many that he brings to his job: Remarkable journalism instincts and superior technical skill. His past year covering the people and places in The Citizen’s market has been an amazing showcase of all his talent, passion and commitment.”
Please join us in honoring Kevin as the Journalist of the Year in a ceremony next fall, as this year’s SPC banquet had to be canceled due to COVID-19.
Just 2 days ago I was cross country skiing around Hoopes Park in Auburn and stopped to say hi to a guy that appeared to be taking pictures of the park. He remembered who I was from previous encounters years ago. As I was finishing my last lap around the perimeter of the park he must have taken a picture of me near the Gazebo on the east side of Hoopes Park because the next day I began to get texts and emails from friends and family that I was on the front page of the Auburn Citizen newspaper. What a nice surprise when compared to the bad news that was also on the front page regarding the County’s deadliest day from the virus as well as an Auburn inmate from the Correctional Facility on State Street dies of Covid-19. I hope some readers were lifted up by Kevin’s beautiful shot of me at our beautiful park which is very close to where I live in Auburn. I look forward to many more great pictures that I’m sure Kevin will produce in the future.