Newsday's Joye Brown inducted into LI Journalism Hall of Fame

Award-winning journalist Joye Brown, who has spent almost four decades at Newsday as a writer and editor, is among the newest class of inductees to the Long Island Journalism Hall of Fame, the Press Club of Long Island has announced.

Joining Brown, who is now a Newsday associate editor and a columnist, are longtime News 12 reporter Drew Scott, Bryan Boyhan of the Sag Harbor Express, and past president and board trustee of the Press Club Chris R. Vaccaro, who also is an adjunct assistant professor at Hofstra University and executive director at the Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame.

"I'm excited to be in such good company in the Hall, with reporters who made their careers in local journalism," Brown said Wednesday, recalling how, from the time she first worked at her high school paper in Washington, D.C., her goal was "to be the best local reporter I could be. That's always what I wanted, to be a good local reporter."

Since coming to Newsday in 1983, Brown has won national and local awards for her editorial writing, feature writing, local news and column writing. 

"As a reporter, editor, newsroom administrator, editorial writer and columnist, Joye Brown has been telling the real story to Long Islanders — and giving it straight to our politicians, too — since joining Newsday in 1983," said Newsday Editor Deborah Henley.

"We here at Newsday are so proud that our colleague is being inducted into the Long Island Journalism Hall of Fame," Henley said. "And congratulations to Joye’s fellow inductees, Bryan Boyhan, Drew Scott and Chris R. Vaccaro."

Brown was part of the Newsday 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning team for spot news coverage of the Baby Jane Doe case, and was a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for public service as part of a Newsday team looking into police misconduct on Long Island.

"Congratulations to Joye and all her fellow inductees," said Debby Krenek, Newsday publisher. "Joye’s no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is approach in everything she does has made her a trusted voice for Long Islanders." 

Brown began her journalism career in radio and also has worked at The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina, and the Chicago Tribune.

In addition to the new class of inductees, News 12 Long Island was the winner of this year's Bob Greene Public Service Award for its ongoing series "The New Normal," which provides viewers with news and information about the pandemic and the economy.

The press club also recognized scholarship recipients: Rachel Luscher of Hofstra, Max Robinson and Nicolas Rontanini of Adelphi University, and Daniel Rosato of Mattituck High School.

The Press Club of Long Island is a professional chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. The awards ceremony will take place June 2 at the Melville Marriott.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”