The New Jersey chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists recognized Wolper in May 2007 for an Ethics Corner column he had written in the Feb. 20, 2006 issue of Editor & Publisher (E & P), A Critical Error at The New York Times. Wolpers media ethics column had examined an incident in which The Times rejected an internship application from one of Wolpers students, in apparent retaliation for critical comments about The Times Wolper had made in previous columns. The column was edited by E & P editor Greg Mitchell.
The Manhattan resident is a professor in the journalism and media studies program at Rutgers-Newark. In addition to writing his E & P media ethics column, he is a commentator for WBGO-FM, Newarks award-winning National Public Radio station. During his career Wolper has received more than 50 journalism awards, including a first-place in public affairs early this year from the New York Association of Black Journalists.
Several of these awards were for Wolpers Ethics Column: the 2003 Paul Mongerson Prize for Investigative Reporting on the Media, given by the Medill School for Journalism at Northwestern University; the Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism from Penn State University; the National Press Club Award; and three Deadline Club awards from the New York City chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.