SYRACUSE -- The Syracuse Press Club has announced its 2010 additions to its Wall of Distinction, the club's highest honor. One local television manager and one recently-retired radio manager are among the honorees.
One of the criteria for being added to the wall is that you must have worked in local media for at least 10 years. WRVO's John Krauss meets that requirement four times -- having retired after more than 41 years at NPR affiliate WRVO earlier this year. Krauss, who was on-staff since the station launched in 1969, worked his way up through the ranks to GM. Along the way, WRVO added simulcasts in Utica, Watertown, Cortland and several other communities. Krauss is credited with helping expand the station's reach and its news department, especially as other radio stations have shut down or greatly reduced the staffing of their own newsrooms.
On the TV side, Ron Lombard will be added to the wall. Lombard's been the head of Time Warner Cable's 24/7 local news channel "Your News Now," since planning first started to launch what was originally known as "News 10 Now" nearly a decade ago. Before that, Lombard was the News Director at ABC affiliate NewsChannel 9 (then WIXT) from 1991-2001, a time during which channel 9 successfully climbed the ratings ladder to eventually overtake the long-dominant channel 5. Lombard's got some radio connections too: before working in TV, the Newhouse grad worked at WSYR radio, according to the Syracuse Press Club.
The other three inductees are non-broadcast journalists. Hart Seely and Janis Barth work for the Syracuse Post-Standard, and former Post-Standard Executive Editor Robert Atkinson retired in 1993.
The induction dinner will take place October 21 at Drumlins Country Club in Syracuse. CBS Evening News weekend anchor Jeff Glor, a former reporter/anchor from Syracuse NBC affiliate WSTM, will be the keynote speaker. Tickets for the dinner are $40 and you can get them online at syracusepressclub.org.