West Side Story receives 2017 Online Pacemaker finalist award
The West Side Story staff earns the 2017 Online Pacemaker finalist award. Pacemaker finalists will be recognized and the Pacemaker winners announced at the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention, April 6-9 in Seattle.
The National Scholastic Press Association has recognized 38 online news sites as finalists in the 2017 Online Pacemaker competition. The West Side Story website, wsspaper.com, is one of three Iowa schools recognized. The last time WSS received this honor was in 2012.
“The Pacemaker is the association’s preeminent award and is often called the Pulitzer Prize of scholastic journalism,” said Laura Widmer, executive director. “NSPA is honored to recognize the best of the best.”
To select the 38 winning online sites, judges carefully studied the 180 Pacemaker entries. Each site was analyzed and discussed by a team of judges. Entries were judged in two size categories based on student enrollment — less than 1,500, or 1,500 or greater.
The 38 finalists represent 15 states. Of the finalists, 27 entries were companion sites to print news publications and 11 were online-only news outlets.
“Today’s best online sites are platforms for rich multimedia storytelling,” said Gary Lundgren, associate director. “Deep and diverse coverage with strong engagement and interactivity distinguish the best student-produced news sites.”
The Pacemaker finalists will be recognized and the Pacemaker winners announced at the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention, April 6-9, 2017 in Seattle.
View a complete list of finalists here.
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Lily • Mar 14, 2017 at 9:44 am
Hi ICW, I’m a member of Omaha Skutt Catholic High School’s show choir, Vivace, and we recently visited your school for an exchange with your show choir students. Everyone from our school thought your students were amazing at their craft as well as super friendly people. We all very much enjoyed our visit to your school, and still talk about the memories we made there. I am also a member of the newspaper staff at Skutt, and saw your school’s name on the list of Pacemaker Finalists today. I can definitely see that your standard for greatness extends throughout your school — congratulations on a sleek publication, your nomination, and for going above and beyond in all your activities. (: