Campbell, Levy, Virag and Cassese to Be Inducted Into the Long Island Journalism Hall of Fame
Posted on Apr. 23, 2023 / Subscribe 0
For their contributions to journalism on Long Island and farther afield, Danielle Campbell, Lawrence Levy, Irene Virag and Sid Cassese will be inducted into the Long Island Journalism Hall of Fame during the Press Club of Long Island Media Awards Banquet on Thursday, June 15, at 6 p.m. at Fox Hollow in Woodbury.
Emmy and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist Danielle Campbell retired in March after 30 years with News 12 Long Island, where she worked as a field reporter and anchor.
At News 12, Campbell created such popular segments as Long Island’s Hidden Past, which explores the island’s rich history dating back to the American Revolution. On her multiple trips to Haiti, in the wake of the deadly 2010 earthquake, she brought comfort to families searching for missing loved ones and joy during the rebuilding process. At home, she reported extensively on Long Island communities overcoming the damage of Superstorm Sandy.
Campbell specializes in stories with truth and sincerity that highlight the human spirit and the accomplishments of those who strive to make this planet a better place.
In nearly 50 years as a reporter, editorial writer, columnist, PBS host and political commentator, Lawrence (Larry) Levy has won many of journalism’s top awards and has been named a Pulitzer Prize finalist for in-depth works on suburban politics, education, taxation, housing and other key issues, especially those involving racial and economic inequities. He has received more than two dozen PCLI Media Awards first place honors.
Levy wrote Newsday’s first opinion blog, at the 2004 Republican and Democratic conventions, and developed its unique investigative-style editorial page series. One of the latter was named a Pulitzer finalist in 1999 for revealing — and providing solutions to — a Nassau County property tax system that was punishing minority homeowners in a massive shift of wealth from poor to rich.
Levy is the executive dean of Hofstra University’s National Center for Suburban Studies, which he helped create in 2007. Before joining Hofstra, Levy’s final positions at Newsday were senior editorial writer and chief political columnist. He also served for 14 years as co-host of the PBS show “Face-Off,” and remains involved in the world of journalism and politics.
Irene Virag, an associate dean and the undergraduate program director at the Stony Brook University School of Communication and Journalism, won a Pulitzer Prize as a member of the team that chronicled the story of Baby Jane Doe, an infant with spina bifida, and the political struggle over her treatment. She is a fellow of the Garden Writers of America and a 10-time winner of the New York Newswoman's Club Front Page Award and was a 1989 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University
Virag’s piece “Chemo: The Slayer and The Savior” was included in the American Society of Newspaper Editors’ “Best Newspaper Writing of 1998.” She was a lead writer for Newsday's 13-month series “Long Island: Our Natural World.” During her Newsday career, she wrote a nature column, a home column and the “Long Island Diary.”
Virag has interviewed murderers and movie stars, and traveled to Vietnam to bring a handicapped Amerasian child who was living on the streets back to the land of the father who abandoned him. She’s written about women fighting breast cancer and about her own breast cancer journey. Virag left her job as the home and garden editor of Newsday to make her way in the freelance world and has contributed to numerous magazines including Fine Gardening, Country Gardens, and Better Homes & Gardens.
The late Sid Cassese worked for Newsday for 42 years before retiring in 2016. Cassese became a reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia in the early 1970s prior to joining Newsday in 1974 and was also an editor at Jazz Magazine in the mid-’70s. In 1979, he was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.
His colleagues say Cassese was a truth seeker, dogged reporter, brilliant writer and role model who sought out the voices of the most vulnerable — a man who was unafraid to question authority. He penned stories on everything from lack of affordable housing to allegations of racism in public agencies.
Cassese died in February of this year at age 83 and is sorely missed.
Tickets to the Press Club of Long Island Media Awards Banquet are now on sale. PCLI is also taking reservations for awards journal ads to congratulate the members of the Long Island Journalism Hall of Fame Class of 2023 and the evening's other honorees.
About PCLI: The PRESS CLUB OF LONG ISLAND is a professional chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists — devoted to protecting and advocating for First Amendment rights, furthering ethical standards and providing ongoing training. The club was founded in 1974 in response to a reporter being jailed for failing to reveal a source. Become a member at spj.org/join.asp.
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