The Standard, Missouri State University’s official student-run newspaper, received the first Newspaper Pacemaker award in school history at the National College Media Convention in Orlando, Florida. The Standard was one of thirteen schools out of the 24 finalists in the four-year non-daily category to receive the award, which is given by the Associated Collegiate Press. Jack Dimond, faculty advisor for The Standard, describes the Pacemaker award as a “comprehensive measure of quality of student media” and explains that professional journalists judge student newspapers on several criteria based on five full issues. This year’s finalist nod was the first for The Standard since 1998.
“We are obviously excited to receive this award,” the editorial board of The Standard writes in a Nov. 1 opinion piece about the award. “The award has further inspired all of our staff members to continue to produce a newspaper that is of high quality and most importantly, that serves the students of our great university.”
Convention attendees included Dimond, editor-in-chief Jon Poorman, managing editor Megan Gates, and photo editor Michael Gulledge. In addition to the Pacemaker award win, former members of the Standard received honorable mentions in individual categories. Matt Kile, former photo editor, and Mikaela Buck, former advertising designer, were honored at the convention. Both are Spring 2011 graduates of the College of Arts and Letters.
The Standard, formerly known as the Southwest Standard, has served as the official student-run newspaper since 1912. It is published every Tuesday during fall and spring semesters (with some exceptions for holidays) and has a print circulation of 7,000. You may read The Standard online at http://www.the-standard.org.