The Ranger keeps pace with 11th award

The Pacemaker is not an easy goal when competing nationally. The Ranger won a Pacemaker in the two-year newspaper category this year and was a finalist in the online category as well.

The award was presented at the National College Media convention In Louisville, Ky. Oct. 27-31. This is the 11th Pacemaker award for The Ranger since 1975.

The National Pacemaker is an award for excellence in American student journalism with a history dating back to 1927. It is referred to as the Pulitzer Prize for student journalism.

Editors for the competition period were Jason B. Hogan in fall 2009 and Laura Garcia in spring 2010.

The Associated College Press judges student newspapers on certain criteria ranging from content, quality of writing and editing, photography, art and graphics, layout and design, to the overall concept or theme of the publication.

A panel of professionals with extensive online media experience judged the online presence of the publications.

Site design, coverage, interactivity, graphics and photography are just some of the details that made The Ranger a winner in 2010.

Part of the paper's continued success lies in a dedicated staff and attention to detail on all levels.

Instructor Irene Abrego said, "As an adviser to the Ranger, I try to maintain the exacting standards I was taught when I was a student on the Ranger staff."

Marianne Odom, chair of media communications, said, "We never say we are just a student paper."

The Ranger is dedicated to its readership and giving students the experience of practicing the craft of journalism.

"Students cover trials, fires, police stories, along with meetings and speeches. The strength of The Ranger is in the reporting. Everything we do is real and intended for publication because that's the way students learn."

Being named one of the three finalists in the two-year category comes with a certain degree of responsibility.

Dr. Yuk-Kwong "Edmund" Lo noted, "Timely reporting is one of the factors in keeping up to date. We are dedicated to getting as much as possible to the reader."

Consistency in content and professional standards are a shared vision at the Ranger.

"This is not a profit-oriented newspaper," Lo said. "The hours spent are not always proportionate. We are practicing serious journalism here in terms of content and accuracy."

Garcia, who interned at the Longview News-Journal in summer, said, "It's exciting to be part of something so big. It's exciting just to be a journalist."

Two summers ago, she redesigned the page templates to the smaller magazine format.

"I chose SAC for The Ranger and I knew The Ranger had a history," Garcia said. "What's more exciting is knowing we've been rewarded for all the hard work and hours."

Garcia can be found in the newsroom every day of the week, often well in excess of 40 hours each week.

Fall 2009 editor Hogan said, "The Pacemaker is representational of your entire paper; it shows how well-rounded your publication is. The structure of the paper from reporters to appointed editors like myself have to work as a cohesive unit in order to obtain an award like the Pacemaker."