ACCD News & Events

SAC's The Ranger Online Receives Top National Journalism Award

For Immediate Release
November 1, 2005
Contact: John Hammond, Director of Public Relations, San Antonio College
210/733-2147
jhammond@accd.edu

San Antonio College's The Ranger online student newspaper (at http://www.theranger.org) is the only community college online publication in the nation to win the 2005 Online Pacemaker Award, given to the nation's top two- and four-year college online publications.

The Associated Collegiate Press and the Newspaper Association of America Foundation made the announcement at the National College Media Convention in Kansas City. In addition, The Ranger student newspaper was named a finalist for the Pacemaker Award for the best college print newspapers, an award The Ranger won for the 10th time last year.

"To be the only community college publication among online Pacemaker winners is truly remarkable; I was stunned," said Chet Hunt, Journalism-Photography Department chairperson.

Ricky Espinoza and Pete Ortega were the editors of the winning issues of The Ranger online, and Nicole Lessin was the editor of The Ranger. Advisors for both publications were writing and editing instructors Irene Abrego and Marianne Odom, photography adviser Tricia Buchhorn and Hunt.

The judges select Pacemakers for online college student publications based on "design, ease of navigation, writing and editing, graphics and interactivity," states the Associated Collegiate Press website, at http://www.studentpress.org/acp/contests.html#opm, where winners and finalists are listed and viewers can see samples from the Winners Gallery link.

The Ranger online was also the only online college publication in Texas to win the Online Pacemaker Award. The other institutions selected are University of California at Los Angeles, Harvard University, University of Oklahoma, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Wisconsin, Marquette University, San Francisco State University, University of Oregon, and Georgetown University.

For more information about the program, contact Chet Hunt at 733-2870.