PCLI Past President Chris Vaccaro Named SPJ Region 1 Coordinator

Chris R. Vaccaro, Press Club of Long Island immediate past president and board member, has been appointed SPJ Region 1 coordinator by the Society of Professional Journalists board of directors.

The SPJ board, which declared the position vacant in December, appointed Vaccaro last week.

Vaccaro, the PCLI awards chair, had served as assistant regional coordinator for the last five years, as well as the Region 1 Mark of Excellence Awards chair.

He co-chaired the last three SPJ regional conferences held on Long Island, was a key founder of PCLI’s Long Island Journalism Hall of Fame and created the Long Island journalism historic studies committee as PCLI president to install historical markers at important journalism sites. During his tenure as president, PCLI won Large Chapter of the Year honors and three national Circle of Excellence awards from SPJ. He is also the advisor for the student chapter of SPJ at Hofstra University.

SPJ Region 1 includes professional and campus chapters from Maine to central Pennsylvania.

Vaccaro is Vice President of Digital News at Altice USA and Director of Graduate Journalism at Hofstra.