West Side Story receives 2017 Online Pacemaker finalist award

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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.