Collegiate Times is finalist for prestigious Web journalism award

The Collegiate Times, the student-run newspaper at Virginia Tech, has been named a finalist for the Associated Collegiate Press Online Pacemaker Award, the highest honor in collegiate Web journalism.

"Being nominated for an Online Pacemaker recognizes not only student excellence in online journalism but also validates our news organization's approach to our future," said Collegiate Times Editor David Grant of Burke, Va., a senior majoring in religious studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.

The Online Pacemaker winners will be announced in October at the National College Media Convention in Austin, Texas. The Collegiate Times is one of 10 four-year daily college newspapers in the running for the award. The Collegiate Times won the award during the 2008 competition.

"We aim to provide extra content online, in addition to the normal reporting from the newspaper, to benefit our students, faculty and staff," said Online Director of collegiatetimes.com Sam Eberspacher of Vienna, Va., a freshman majoring in finance and economics in the Pamplin College of Business. "It's an honor to be nominated, and we are certainly in good company with the other Web sites being recognized." Collegiatetimes.com averages 3,725 visits a day.

The Collegiate Times, Blacksburg's oldest newspaper, was established in 1903 at Virginia Tech. It began as a sports-oriented newspaper but has grown into a student-run, daily publication covering campus news, features, sports, and opinions. The newspaper stopped receiving university funds in 1979 and has since supported its operations with advertising and subscription revenues. The online version of the Collegiate Times officially launched in August 1995.

The Collegiate Times is the recipient of numerous awards. Most recently it won the 2008 Best of Collegiate Design Award presented by College Media Advisors and the 2009 Virginia Press Association First Amendment Award. A complete list of the Collegiate Times’ awards since 2006 may be found online.

The Collegiate Times is staffed wholly by students, who have ultimate authority over all content and personnel issues. Faculty advisor for the Collegiate Times is Lynn Nystrom of the College of Engineering.

Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech is the nonprofit parent company of student media divisions at Virginia Tech, including the Bugle yearbook, College Media Solutions advertising, Collegiate Times newspaper, Silhouette literary and arts magazine, Student Publications Photography Staff, VTTV student television, and WUVT 90.7 FM independent radio.