The Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) has named “Vida” Magazine as one of 41 Online Pacemaker finalists. The Online Pacemaker award is ACP’s preeminent award, given to the top online broadcast, news and magazine sites. The awards are generally considered to be the highest national honors in their field, and are unofficially known as the “Pulitzer Prizes of student journalism”.
“Being selected as a finalist for an online Pacemaker is such an honor because there were more than 182 submissions nationwide, and to know that this publication is among the best is just outstanding,” said Dr. Kim Bissell, advisor for “Vida” Magazine. “I am always so proud of the students because what they do is really unlike any other student publication: they travel to another country, gather content in all forms, and then produce an entire magazine in about three weeks.”
Every two years, a team of writers, photographers and designers from The University of Alabama’s student body travel to a Latin American country to gather content for a new issue of “Vida.” The second and most recent issue, published last year, focused on four cities in Costa Rica. The first issue, published in 2016, was about the culture of Chile.
“First and foremost, being named a finalist for a Pacemaker is affirmation that makes all the late nights planning, early mornings spent copy editing, and all the worrisome dirt roads to the odd cacao farm or volcano top worth it,” said Mary Kathryn Carpenter, editor of “Vida.” “This magazine was entirely student funded and produced, so to see all our efforts pay off has been extremely gratifying. Our Vida alumni have gone on to become leaders within other student media organizations, do amazing internships across the country and become University employees.”
20 of the 41 finalists will earn Pacemaker honors at the ACP/CMA National College Media Convention at the end of October in Washington, D.C. For more information about “Vida,” visit their website, vidamagazineua.com.
