Student Publications News

WKU's College Heights Herald is a finalist for the 2024 Multiplatform Pacemaker Award from Associated Collegiate Press.

It is the Herald's third Pacemaker Finalist designation for 2024. The Herald also is a finalist for the Newsmagazine Pacemaker and for the Innovation Pacemaker.

The Multiplatform Pacemaker is considered the most complex among the prestigious Pacemakers, the highest honor for student-run collegiate media. The Multiplatform Pacemaker judges a publication across every platform it is on -- print, online, newsletter, audio/video and social media.

"This is clearly a forward-thinking Pacemaker award that reflects the new college media ecosystem,” said Gary Lundgren, associate director of ACP. “While ACP continues to award Pacemakers for individual platforms, it is increasingly important for judges to review how print, online, email newsletters, social media and audio/video all come together to serve readers."

To select the finalists, respected experts including professors and current digital media professionals analyzed, discussed and rated each entry before selecting the finalists and Pacemakers.

The Multiplatform Pacemaker is in just its third year. The Herald has been a finalist for the honor all three years, and won the Multiplatform Pacemaker in 2023.

"Being a finalist in this category says so much about the quality of our students and the work they do to keep the WKU community informed," said Chuck Clark, director of WKU Student Publications. "This award is especially meaningful because it shows that the Herald is working to reach its audience however that audience wants to get its news, and that it's doing excellent work across all those platforms."

Winners of the ACP Pacemaker Awards will be announced Nov. 2 at the National College Media Convention in New Orleans.

The College Heights Herald, founded Jan. 29, 1925, is one of the most honored student-run publications in the nation. It has won 23 Pacemaker Awards since its first in 1981, and has collected six Pacemakers just since 2020-21. The Herald is in the Associated Collegiate Press Hall of Fame and is No. 6 among all-time winners of the Pacemaker, which dates back to 1927.

The Herald is part of WKU Student Publications, which also includes the Talisman life and culture magazine, which has 22 Pacemakers, and Cherry Creative branded content studio and the Student Publications Advertising sales force, which together have won two Pacemakers.

For more information, contact Chuck Clark at 270-745-4206 or chuck.clark@wku.edu.