View the winners list here:
2008 NSPA Newspaper Pacemaker Finalists
Later in the fall, at the above page, there will be links to publication images and comments from the judges. Pacemaker winners will be announced for the first time at the JEA/NSPA convention Nov. 13-16, 2008 in St. Louis. Here is a press release for the Newspaper Pacemakers:
The National Scholastic Press Association is pleased to announce the 2008 Newspaper Pacemaker finalists. Out of 373 newspaper entries in four categories, judges from The Virginian-Pilot selected 56 entries for recognition. The list of finalists is available at: http://nspa.studentpress.org/winners/npm08.html
Newspaper finalists were chosen based on excellence in the following areas: Coverage and content, quality of writing, leadership on the opinion page, evidence of in-depth reporting, layout and design, and photography, art and graphics.
The winners will be honored at the JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention awards ceremony in St. Louis on Nov. 15. Registration for the convention is now available online at www.studentpress.org/nspa. Since 1927, the Pacemaker has been the highest honor available to NSPA members and today is considered one of the most prestigious awards in scholastic journalism.
NSPA encourages properly cited use of this information for individual press releases. Please contact Kathy Huting, contest and critique coordinator, for further information at kathy -at- studentpress -dot- org.
The National Scholastic Press Association is a non-profit education organization which strives to educate and recognize the work of student journalists, to improve the quality of student media and to foster careers in media.
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Update (Nov. 18, 2008): The Newspaper Pacemaker judges from the Virginian-Pilot have provided general comments on the contest judging:
“Overall, the high school newspapers were a revelation. I was impressed with the breadth of their coverage — everything from fights in school to teenage sex — and the overall organization and design. Students at many of the schools are served well by their papers’ watchdog roles. Some of the publications, including many of the magazines, were truly amazing — the kinds of publications that could stand up to those produced by professionals. The writing often was pedestrian, but at times, it sang and I couldn’t put the papers down. Though I appreciated the various views expressed on the opinion pages, these more often than not left me wanting more: stronger topics, stronger stands, a little risk, a little humor. Photography also was hit and miss — let’s see more photojournalism and better cropping. The success of the design often hinged on the success of the content, as it should. Well-designed packages were often broken into small bits or had multiple points of entry, and I think that success can be attributed to the planning and editing that went into some of the sections. I truly hope students are reading these publications because they often provide a window to their world and can help them navigate those difficult teenage years.”
. . .
“The quality of the high school newspapers was very good overall, remarkable in some instances. In fact, in terms of content and design, the winning publications were every bit as strong as many weekly public newspapers.
If I had one nit, it would be that overall, the quality of the photography was not strong.”. . .
“Having never judged a Pacemaker competition before, I was blown away at the quality of newspaper around the country. I kept thinking: ‘I wish my high school newspaper had looked like this, and had given me such wonderful experience before I ventured to college.’ The breadth of subjects, the creativity of teens, it truly was amazing. Even with newspapers that didn’t win, just having the experience of writing, taking photos, editing, laying out copy and following the process from beginning to end is testimony to the importance of keeping these publications alive and well.”
. . .
“The best publications combined excellent journalism with a graphics-forward approach.”
. . .
“There was a lot of great work being done. There were many papers that I wanted to read cover to cover, even though there wasn’t time. The papers that really stood out were the ones that tried hard to localize the national news issues and stress how they affected their audience. Also, I definitely preferred thoughtful coverage of local news events rather than the common stories every high school seems to cover (i.e. eating disorders, dating violence, teen pregnancy, etc.). If I remember correctly, there was even a paper that broke a story about a school administrator giving preferential academic treatment to a student because the two were family. I imagine that caused quite an uproar; what a scoop!”