The Shorthorn took home over 40 awards between the Associated Collegiate Press and the College Media Association during last month’s Fall National College Media Convention in New Orleans.
At the event, the two organizations recognize work from student journalists nationwide through several individual and publication-based awards.
ACP awarded The Shorthorn over 20 individual and staff recognitions, including the Newspaper/Newsmagazine and Multiplatform Pacemaker. The Pacemaker recognizes overall excellence and distinguishes the top student media produced during a particular school year, according to its website.
The Multiplatform Pacemaker considers all forms of publishing, including print, website, email newsletters, photos, videos and social media pages. The Newspaper/Newsmagazine Pacemaker judges three selected print issues by analyzing coverage, writing, design and photography, as well as determining how effectively it serves its audience.
Laurie Fox, newsroom adviser and assistant director of Student Publications, said The Shorthorn’s students take their work very seriously and that running the publication is a team effort.
“Everyone here is hired for what they’re good at, what their specialty is,” Fox said. “All those groups have to work in tandem to produce something that they're all proud of.”
Christine Vo, the publication’s editor-in-chief, said winning the Pacemakers felt surreal. For the Newspaper Pacemaker, the eclipse edition was one of three papers submitted, which Vo said was especially rewarding.
“Being able to get that award a year later, it just brought me back,” she said. “Obviously the eclipse paper was crazy. It was stressful. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing to pull it all together, even though we had months of planning. So, seeing it all come together and be awarded was very nice.”
Additionally, The Shorthorn received over 20 CMA Pinnacle Awards, which honors the best college media organizations and individual work, according to its website. The publication received eight first-place awards.
Among other individual recognitions, three staffers won first place in both ACP Multimedia News Story and CMA Best Multimedia Breaking News Story for their pro-Palestine demonstrations package.
Vo worked with former managing editor Drew Shaw and former photojournalist Mary Abby Goss to document protests on campus as demonstrations arose at colleges across the nation following Oct. 7. Their photos, reel, story and timeline came together for the award.
Fox said The Shorthorn has done award-winning work for decades, a tradition that helps validate the students and staff. The recognition helps them know that they are doing some of their best work, allowing them to see that they can perform at a high level.
“We don’t do it for the awards, but it is an outcome that happens when our students are doing their best work and putting their whole hearts into what they’re doing,” she said.
Awards won
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