Triumphant war cries rattled the halls of Western’s journalism department when The Planet adviser Jeff Shaw entered his office Thursday, Feb. 12, to find a plaque sitting on his desk, congratulating the magazine for being a finalist for a Pacemaker Award.
The Pacemaker Awards, distributed by the Associated Collegiate Press each year, recognize excellent student media. Informally known as the “Pulitzer Prize of student journalism,” the award is widely regarded as the highest honor for student journalists to receive.
“It felt like we won the Olympics,” Shaw said.
The Planet’s spring 2024 to winter 2025 anthology issue was one of 16 finalists nationwide in the Best Feature/General Audience Magazine category. Four of those finalists won Pacemaker Awards.
“The verbal and visual storytelling in the winning magazines is incredible and robust long-form stories combined with shorter quick-reads to pace the reader through the pages of the feature magazines,” said Gary Lundgren, ACP associate director and coordinator of the Pacemaker competition, in a press release.
Western was competing with some university newsrooms that had invested more than $1 million in their journalism programs, Shaw said.
“Being able to show the country that we don’t need a massive budget, we don’t need fancy equipment, we just have people who care really, really deeply, and we’re still able to make it big time, is huge to me,” said Tori Lehman, editor-in-chief of The Planet. She was also managing editor for parts of the finalist anthology.
“The students deserve all of the credit,” Shaw said. “I’m proudest of the editorial team’s hunger to produce good, ethical, reliable, accurate fact-checked journalism.”
Though it has won various awards from the Society of Professional Journalists in the past, this was the first time The Planet competed for a Pacemaker. In fact, Shaw thinks it was the first publication from Western to ever submit its work for a Pacemaker.
Next year, staff members are aiming to win an official Pacemaker Award.
In addition to the magazine receiving honors from the Associated Collegiate Press, The Planet student reporter Josh Maritz won an honorable mention for Story of the Year in the In-Depth News Story category. It was awarded for his article about Washington state’s first case of chronic wasting disease in deer.
He wrote the piece in fall 2024, and it was his first time writing for any publication. The article also won the regional General News Reporting award from SPJ in 2024.
Maritz said he was full of joy after finding out he received an honorable mention from ACP, and he’s very grateful for the help from Shaw, the team of editors and his sources.
Lehman said Maritz was being too humble for her liking. She said he’s a great person to work with, he’s dedicated and passionate about his work, and he deserves the national recognition.
“The editing staff helps keep the gears oiled, but the reporters are the gears themselves. We wouldn’t function without them,” Lehman said.
The next issue of The Planet will be published online at the end of winter quarter.
“I hope recognition like this makes it clear how much the university gains when we all invest in student publications,” Betsy O’Donovan, student publications council chair, said.
Noelle Reger (she/her) is a second-year journalism student and city life reporter for The Front this quarter. When she's not reading or writing, she can usually be found gambling at the claw machines in Sharetea. You can reach her at noellereger.thefront@gmail.com.
