The Red & Black receives prestigious Pacemaker Award

The University of Georgia’s student-run newspaper, The Red & Black, took home a Pacemaker Award at last weekend’s Fall National College Media Convention. The Pacemaker Award recognizes student publications for overall excellence throughout the school year.

The Pacemaker is considered the Associated Collegiate Press’ “preeminent award,” according to Laura Widmer, the ACP’s executive director. There are also categories for online, magazines and yearbooks, in addition to newspapers.

There were 160 applicants from both two- and four-year schools for the 2019 newspaper award, which was then narrowed down to 46 finalists. Being among the 19 winning newspapers  puts The Red & Black in the top 12% of competing publications.

Other winners include Texas A&M’s The Battalion, Syracuse University’s The Daily Orange and UCLA’s Daily Bruin.

“What’s so meaningful about the Pacemaker is that it represents the hard work of the entire Red & Black staff throughout an entire school year,” said Rebecca Burns, the publisher and editorial advisor at The Red & Black. “It reflects the consistent commitment to journalism excellence by everyone at The Red & Black, from contributors still in training to seasoned desk editors who have been involved for years.”

Burns also gave special recognition to Erin Schilling and Maggie Holland (AB ’19), the former editors in chief from fall 2018 and spring 2019, respectively.

The fall 2018 Ampersand Magazine, one of The Red & Black’s special publications, was one of 41 finalists for the Pacemaker Award in the magazine category.

Individual awards were also given at the convention. The categories include reporter, advertisement, cartoon, design, local climate change reporting, multimedia story, photo and story.

Christina Manacotta (AB ’19), former chief photographer for The Red & Black, won first place in the feature photo category for a photo taken an Extra Special People event last spring.

Honorable mentions for the Red & Black include former Staff Cartoonist Nile DeFrietas’ comic strip “Fresh” in the cartoon category, and the spring 2019 edition of the special publication Eat & Drink, Athens, GA, under advertisement.

The Fall National College Media Convention was held from Oct. 31 through Nov. 3 in Washington, D.C. The Red & Black was represented at the convention by former Editors-in-Chief Sofia Gratas and Erin Schilling, both Grady journalism students, and incoming Editor-in-Chief Hunter Riggall.