The Associated Collegiate Press awards a collegiate newspaper with the ACP Newspaper Pacemaker award every year, and The Battalion has been named a finalist.
The contest revolves around six categories: coverage and content, quality of writing and reporting, leadership on the opinion page, evidence of in-depth reporting, layout and design, and photography, art and graphics.
I think it is a reflection of the teamwork and long hours that our staff put in last year, said 2011-2012 editor-in-chief of The Battalion Robert Carpenter. Its gratifying to see it pay off like that.
The ACP has awarded excellence in collegiate reporting for 85 years. This is the fifth time in the history of The Battalion that the student newspaper has been awarded a finalist position. The Battalion won the award in 2008.
Id say you dont need awards to validate your performance and the impact that you had, Carpenter said. But its nice when you can get them, too.
Collegiate newspapers apply for the contest in early June. The entries were judged by the staff of The Sacramento Bee, a newspaper in California.
It would be a huge honor to get the Pacemaker, said spring 2012 managing editor of The Battalion Jordan Williford. It would be such a great reward for all of our team effort.
The Newspaper Pacemaker award is co-sponsored by the ACP and the Newspaper Association of America Foundation.
The current Battalion staff includes several editors from the fall 2011 and spring 2012 semesters.Being in the newsroom on a regular basis, I can personally attest to the fact that last years staff put a lot of sweat and tears into the paper day in and day out. Its encouraging to see such labor pay off, the current editor in chief of The Battalion Trevor Stevens said. The opinion content especially made our submissions substantial.
The Battalion produces five papers per week during the fall and spring semesters, and two papers per week during the summer sessions. Circulating approximately 15,000 issues per day, The Battalion is one of Texas A&Ms oldest traditions, acting as an independent forum for student discussion since 1893.Other finalists for this year include: The Daily Californian, The Daily Bruin, The Daily Northwestern, Minnesota Daily, Washington Square News, The Daily Orange, The Daily Tar Heel, The Daily Pennsylvanian and The Daily Collegian.
After covering difficult topics like sexual assault and the incredible coverage on the student body election and the outsourcing debate, its no small surprise that we are ranked with some of the best newspapers in the country, said current managing editor Joe Terrell. It was an honor to be a part of last years news team.
The winners of the Pacemaker Award will be announced at the ACP/CMA National College Media Convention in Chicago on Nov. 3.