The Associated Collegiate Press has announced the 30 college newspapers that are finalists for the 2016 Pacemaker Award, collegiate journalism’s preeminent award. The list includes The Plainsman, Auburn University’s student newspaper.
The newspaper has been awarded the Pacemaker Award 25 times previously, the last one coming in 2014.
The top 30 were chosen from a total of 155 entries. There is category for each type of publication – online, newspaper, yearbook and magazine. Entries are judged by teams of professionals based on the following criteria: coverage and content, quality of writing and reporting, leadership, design, photography and graphics.
“Really impressed with the work from these college students,” one judge said. “Their newspapers included a variety of topics that were very captivating. Some newspapers can get stuck covering the same topics over and over again … More newspapers should be more creative with their coverage and take more risks.”
Winners will be announced at our National College Media Convention in Washington, D.C. this October.