SYRACUSE -- She grew up in the market and has been with Channel 3 (WSTM) for her entire career, working her way up from secretary to primary anchor. This fall, Jackie Robinson will receive one of the most prestigious honors in the state -- she is going to be inducted to the New York State Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.
The full list of this year's inductees hasn't been posted on NYSBA's website yet, but that didn't stop Robinson's co-anchor, Matt Mulcahy from putting together a story about the honor on Monday. Robinson and other inductees will be honored at a cocktail reception on November 1 in New York City. She'll give an acceptance speech and a video montage will showcase highlights of Robinson's career.
In his story on CNYCentral.com, Mulcahy points out Robinson was a student at Cicero High School when she joined Channel 3 as a newsroom secretary. She held onto the job while studying at Syracuse University, and after graduation, Robinson was given the chance to work as a reporter, and later an anchor.
For more than 20 years, she has served as a primary weeknight anchor. She and Mulcahy co-anchor the NBC affiliate's 90-minute early evening newscast and the 11pm newscast. When Mulcahy is off, she often fills-in on the solo-anchored CW6 (WSTQ-LP) News at Ten.
Mulcahy notes Robinson will be joining some of the most prominent names in broadcasting -- previous NYSBA Hall of Fame inductees include television pioneers like former channel 3 general manager E.R. Vadeboncoeur and "the father of CBS," William S. Paley, who were both part of the Hall of Fame's 2005 inaugural class.
Last year, NewsChannel 9 (WSYR-TV) co-anchors Rod Wood and Carrie Lazarus were inducted to the Hall of Fame as an anchoring team. And two years earlier, Sunny 102.1 (WZUN) and Mix 102.5 (WUMX) afternoon host Rick Gary was inducted to the Hall of Fame in recognition of his many years in Syracuse television and radio.
Our congratulations to Jackie Robinson! We'll be keeping an eye out for the full list of inductees to see if anyone else from Central New York will join this elite group this year.