ACP presents collegiate journalism’s preeminent awards, the Pacemakers, each year.
The competition offers a category for each type of media organization: Broadcast, Magazine,Newspaper, Online and Yearbook.
Entries are judged by teams of professionals based upon coverage and content; quality of writing and reporting; leadership; design; photography; and graphics.
ACP also presents Pacemakers in both Business and Innovation, as well as a new Multiplatform Pacemaker. Entries are evaluated to honor excellence in these two crucial areas of collegiate media.
Participation is a benefit of ACP membership.
All ACP Pacemakers are announced in an awards ceremony at the ACP/CMA Fall National College Media Convention.
See the ACP contest rules for more information.
ACP Individual Awards recognize the top levels of national achievement within an academic year.
There are nine categories, with subcategories in each. Judging the contests are professionals with experience and expertise in the category.
Participation is a benefit of ACP membership.
Contests are open to any student on an ACP-member staff. Entries must have been published or broadcast during the academic year.
All ACP Individual Awards are announced in an awards ceremony at the Fall National College Media Convention, and all are entered the preceding June.
See the ACP contest rules for more information.
Story of the Year
Reporter of the Year
Multimedia
Story of the Year
Design of the Year
Photo of the Year
Cartoon of the Year
Advertisement of the Year
Best Use of Social Media
ACP’s Best of Show competition honors both organizational and individual work among collegiate media who register for the convention and enter the competition.
ACP offers Best of Show at all of its conventions, and winners are announced in an awards ceremony at the conclusion of each convention.
Best of Show categories, deadlines and submission information are posted to the specific convention site up to six weeks prior to the convention start.
The cost is $30 for members and $45 for non-members.
See the ACP contest rules for more information.
KEY LINKS
Check the current convention website
for rules, categories and deadlines.
Associated Collegiate Press recognizes the long-term achievement of publications in its All American Hall of Fame.
Publications can qualify for the ACP Hall of Fame in three ways: if they have earned 10 All-American ratings from our publication critique service within an 11-year span, received a total of 10 national Pacemakers since 1970 or received a combination of 15 national Pacemaker and Pacemaker finalist awards since 1970.
Clips and Clicks is in its second year of honoring current work of student journalists.
Open to all ACP members, Clips & Clicks offers multiple categories for student achievement, and each contest encompasses one semester of work. With a name that merges historic clips contests for print publications with current digital clicks, the competition culminates with a sweepstakes award announced in the spring.
The fall-semester component encompassed work produced Aug. 1-Dec. 17, 2021, with fall winners and the sweepstakes scorecard announced in January 2022. Yearbook/literary magazine submissions must be produced during this time, although publication after Dec. 17 is acceptable.
The spring-semester contest encompasses work from Dec. 18, 2021, to May 27, 2022.
The spring-semester contest deadline is May 27, 2022, and we’ll begin accepting spring entries in February.
The cost is $10 per entry, with no limit on entries. Any student on staff at an NSPA-member publication is eligible.
The contest categories feature broadcast, design, photojournalism and writing competitions.
For more information on the contest, its categories and submission instructions, go to the Clips & Clicks page.
ACP and the Student Press Law Center sponsor the Reveille Seven College Press Freedom Award with the Louisiana State University Manship School of Communication.
The award recognizes a college student news organization or college journalists that have made an outstanding effort to ensure college press freedom. The Reveille Seven College Press Freedom Award recipient receives a plaque recognizing their achievements and their news organization receives a check for $2,000.
The prize is underwritten by the Manship School in memory of the Reveille Seven, a group of LSU student journalists who, in 1934, were expelled for publishing criticism of then Louisiana Gov. Huey Long. They were later cleared of wrongdoing and vindicated.
Additional information, including a list of past winners of this award, is available at the SPLC site.
ACP Spring National College Media Conference Awards presented March 9, 2024 Pacemakers 2024 Online Pacemakers 2024 Student Media Business Pacemakers…
Associated Collegiate Press presented Best of Show awards at the conclusion of the Spring National College Media Conference, March 9,…
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