Collegiate Times

The Collegiate Times website and two individual staff members are finalists for national awards.

CollegiateTimes.com is nominated for the Associated Collegiate Press’s Online Pacemaker Award, managing editor Lindsey Brookbank is nominated for Reporter of the Year — the highest individual award presented by the ACP — and editor-in-chief Zach Crizer is nominated for Best Feature Story of the Year.  

The CT’s online edition is one of 49 finalists, selected out of 251 entries, for the Online Pacemaker award, which is given to the news sites on the leading edge of college journalism. Judging is based on quality of news, excellence of design, breaking news coverage, interactivity and multimedia, according to the ACP website. Multiple sites are selected for the honor.

“It encompasses journalism and technology,” said Peter Velz, a 2011 Virginia Tech graduate who was CT editor-in-chief last academic year, the time period the awards honor. “A lot of credit goes to Jamie Chung.”

Chung, a junior computer science major, is the CT's online director and designed many of the site's features.

The paper previously won the award in 2008.

Brookbank is a finalist for the Reporter of the Year award because of three of her articles — “Forever in their minds: Kevin Lawall’s parents, siblings seek meaning in his suicide,” “Missing peace: Morgan Harrington’s parents need answers,” and “Chain Reaction: Actively Caring seeks widespread impact.”

“Lindsey’s were really great," Velz said. "Two of her stories, when I got them, seemed like the kind that get award attention. They aren’t the kind you see in college journalism. She did a great job — they were very compelling narratives and beautifully written. I’m really proud."

Other finalists in her category are Julie M. Zauzmer of the Harvard Crimson and Matt Stevens of UCLA's Daily Bruin.

CT staffer Caleb Fleming won the 2009 Reporter of the Year award in Austin, Tex. after publishing an investigation into former Tech student Robert Kovack's disappearance nearly 12 years ago. Fleming graduated from Tech in spring 2011. 

Crizer’s nomination stems from his article “Ex-felon moves forward.”

He is up against Lark Turner of the Daily Northwestern, Nina Earnest of The Daily Iowan, Kyle Campbell and Megan Durisin of The State News, and Ally Marotti of The Lantern.

“Zach’s story was very compelling,” Velz said. “I’m glad it got recognized because it’s a very unique story to Tech."

Velz expressed fond memories working for the CT.

“Now that I have had a short taste of life outside of college, I can say that working with Zach, Lindsey and the other staffers was one of the best ways to prepare than anything else in college," he said. "ACP is a good reflection of that. I would strongly encourage anyone who wants to get involved to work for the CT.”

A version of this article appeared in the Sep 3 issue of the Collegiate Times.