The Daily Northwestern won a Pacemaker Award for one of the best college newspapers in the nation, the Associated Collegiate Press announced Saturday.

The Pacemaker is considered the most prestigious award in college journalism. The awards are given annually by the ACP in four categories: newspaper, online, magazine and yearbook.

The Daily was one of 18 newspaper winners selected from a pool of 155 entries and 30 finalists. The Daily has won the Pacemaker several times in the last few decades, with its last recognition in 2012.

Medill junior Julia Jacobs, the paper’s editor in chief, said the award reminded her of the dedication of now-graduated staffers to teaching reporters.

“We put the same amount of work into our paper each day regardless of whether awards for college journalism exist, but this is affirmation that we are doing something right,” Jacobs said. “This mostly makes me feel grateful for the journalists at The Daily who came before us. That recognition of our work is a recognition of theirs as well.”

Daily staffers received three other awards from the ACP on Saturday. Medill junior Mariana Alfaro won second place for diversity story of the year and fifth place for multimedia news story of the year for her story from February, “Searching for safe spaces.” Medill senior Olivia Exstrum, Weinberg junior Daniel Tian, Weinberg sophomore KT Son and McCormick senior Bobby Pillote won fifth place for multimedia story of the year for Exstrum’s March story, “For students dealing with mental health issues, medical leave process presents obstacles.”

Medill senior Tyler Pager, who served as The Daily’s editor in chief during Winter and Spring Quarters 2016, said the award was a “tremendous honor.”

Pager said staff members submitted five issues from the 2015-16 academic year for consideration. The deciding committee took account of not just articles but photography, design and all other components that comprise an issue, he said.

“This award is a testament to all the hard work we put into The Daily,” Pager said. “It’s for every aspect of the journalism we do, and every day we spend there working toward putting out the paper.”

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