Miami Dade College’s (MDC) student newspaper, The Reporter, has been awarded the coveted national Pacemaker by the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) in the two-year college newspaper category. The Pacemaker is widely recognized as the top prize given to college newspapers. The award was conferred at the Fall National College Media Convention held virtually this month.
This is The Reporter’s third Pacemaker award since its launch in 2010. The newspaper received Pacemakers in 2013 and 2014 and has been a finalist six of the last 11 years.
“Our win is a reflection of the excellent work by our dedicated staff,” said Adriana Dos Santos, who served as the paper’s editor-in-chief last year. “This award is for them.”
Judging was based on coverage, writing, editing, design and photography. Winners were selected for work published during the 2020-21 school year. The paper submitted four issues from the 2020 school year which covered topics ranging from COVID-19 to a set of stories on the College’s presidential search that culminated with the selection of Madeline Pumariega, the school’s first female president.
“It’s beautiful to see that the hard work our team and past editor-in-chief put in led to a national recognition,” said Ammy Sanchez, The Reporter’s current editor-in-chief.
In February, The Reporter was named the top college student newspaper in Florida for the 10th year in a row by the Florida College System Publications Association (FCSPA).
The Reporter has a biweekly newsletter, prints on a monthly schedule and has a circulation of 10,250 per print cycle. It is supplemented by a website with video and audio content, distributed at all eight MDC campuses and has newsrooms at the North, Wolfson and Kendall Campuses. In the past ten years, the paper has won 149 awards from the FCSPA including 88 first-place honors. Learn more at www.mdcthereporter.com.