“The winners featured strong writing, excellent news judgment—tough stories and story selections that showed the editorial staff knew their audience,” judges wrote.
“A clean, easy-to-read layout and strong photography set the winners apart. Most importantly, these papers showed creativity and ingenuity.”
The Daily News was a finalist in 2014 and last won the Pacemaker in 2009.
American Collegiate Press began the awards in 1927 and has co-sponsored the competition since 1971 with the Newspaper Association of America Foundation.
This year's other winners were from Indiana University, the University of Alabama, the University of Minnesota and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
The awards were announced at the National College Media Convention this weekend in Austin, Texas.
Previously: Daily News a finalist for Pacemaker Award
Sept. 9, 2015
The Ball State Daily News is among seven finalists for the Pacemaker Award, the top prize in college newspaper journalism from Associated Collegiate Press.
Other finalists are UCLA, Indiana University, Alabama, Minnesota, North Carolina and Oklahoma. ACP announced the finalists Tuesday and said winners will be named at the National College Media Convention in Austin, Texas, Oct. 28-Nov. 1.
ACP is the nation's oldest and largest national membership organization for college student journalists. The Pacemaker, sometimes called the Pulitzer Prize of student journalism, is based on "coverage and content, quality of writing and reporting, leadership on the opinion page, evidence of in-depth reporting, design, photography, art and graphics."
The Daily News has won or been a finalist for the Pacemaker 10 times in the past 21 years, including last year. Most recently it won in 2009.
The 2014-15 staff was led by editors Emma Kate Fittes and Daniel Brount, with Kathy Jesse, the newspaper's adviser last year.
The paper typically competes for the top awards in college journalism from ACP and the Collegiate Scholastic Press Association.
In 2014 it won a Gold Crown Award for general excellence, the highest recognition from CSPA. Its digital operation won a Gold Crown for online news in 2012.
- John Strauss, jcstrauss@bsu.edu
