Spring Break
The Battalion receives journalism honor
By: Rick Rojas
Issue date: 9/11/08 Section: News
The Battalion has been selected as a finalist for the 2008 Newspaper Pacemaker Award - considered the collegiate equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize - along with 48 other student newspapers nationwide.
The finalists were whittled down from the 241 student newspapers that entered the competition, the Associated Collegiate Press, the organization that oversees the award, announced Wednesday. The newspapers submitted are evaluated by the professional journalists of the St. Petersburg Times.
Judges evaluate the newspapers' news coverage, content, visual appearance, depth of reporting and leadership on its opinion pages.
Entry for the Pacemaker includes submitting papers from four assigned weeks and one additional issue of choice. The award considers work published during the 2007-2008 academic year, when The Battalion was led by Editor-in-Chief Brent Shirley, who graduated with a telecommunication media studies degree in May 2008.
"I'm excited because that was one of the goals we had going into the year," Shirley said. "We did really well last year, digging deeper, doing better design."
Also, Kevin Alexander, the design chief for The Battalion, was one of 29 finalists for the Design of the Year award.
The news of the selection - announced to the staff on Wednesday afternoon - surprised those who worked on the papers sent for consideration. "I basically did a back flip," said Alexander, The Battalion's former editor. "It's like being considered for the MVP award in baseball or basketball. It's the greatest honor."
Alexander, a senior English major, was responsible for picking the issues sent to judges as a part of his duties as summer editor-in-chief. He said it came down to finding the papers with the best content - especially on the Opinion pages.
"I'm thrilled," said Robert Wegener, the general manager of Student Media at A&M. "It's a way to recognize the hard work, the hours students put into producing a paper for this campus."
The finalists were whittled down from the 241 student newspapers that entered the competition, the Associated Collegiate Press, the organization that oversees the award, announced Wednesday. The newspapers submitted are evaluated by the professional journalists of the St. Petersburg Times.
Judges evaluate the newspapers' news coverage, content, visual appearance, depth of reporting and leadership on its opinion pages.
Entry for the Pacemaker includes submitting papers from four assigned weeks and one additional issue of choice. The award considers work published during the 2007-2008 academic year, when The Battalion was led by Editor-in-Chief Brent Shirley, who graduated with a telecommunication media studies degree in May 2008.
"I'm excited because that was one of the goals we had going into the year," Shirley said. "We did really well last year, digging deeper, doing better design."
Also, Kevin Alexander, the design chief for The Battalion, was one of 29 finalists for the Design of the Year award.
The news of the selection - announced to the staff on Wednesday afternoon - surprised those who worked on the papers sent for consideration. "I basically did a back flip," said Alexander, The Battalion's former editor. "It's like being considered for the MVP award in baseball or basketball. It's the greatest honor."
Alexander, a senior English major, was responsible for picking the issues sent to judges as a part of his duties as summer editor-in-chief. He said it came down to finding the papers with the best content - especially on the Opinion pages.
"I'm thrilled," said Robert Wegener, the general manager of Student Media at A&M. "It's a way to recognize the hard work, the hours students put into producing a paper for this campus."
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