'The Northern Light' wins Pacemaker, a college journalism award for general excellence

Former photo editor Serine Halverson takes honorable mention in feature photography.

The Northern Light was awarded an Associated College Press Pacemaker award in the overall four-year university, non-daily newspaper category at the 88th Annual ACP/CMA National College Media Convention in Austin, Texas on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009.

The Pacemaker is one of college journalism's oldest and most prestigious awards for general excellence. The first Pacemaker was awarded in 1927.

The paper was one of 13 winners, out of 25 finalists in the category. Judges from the Poynter Institute based winners on several categories including coverage and content, quality of writing, coverage of in-depth topics and overall design. Over 200 papers from across the nation entered the competition.

Former photo editor Serine Halverson also earned an Honorable Mention for her photo in the Features Photo Excellence category. Halverson, who graduated in Spring 2009 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and public communications and a minor in business administration, is currently an associate editor at Alaska Magazine.

This is the first time The Northern Light has been selected as a Pacemaker and the second time it has been nominated as a finalist. The last time was in 2007.

For more information, please contact Executive Editor Suzanna Caldwell at (907) 786-1434 or editor@thenorthernlight.org.