(From left) Graphic designer Andy Caress, Spectrum Editor Iman Mekonen, Executive Editor Georgia Geen and Sports Editor Noah Fleischman holding the Pacemaker Award (Photo courtesy Commonwealth Times)
VCU’s Commonwealth Times earned accolades at the 2019 National College Media Convention in Washington, D.C., last fall. For the first time in the publication’s history, the independent, student-run newspaper won the Pacemaker Award, known as the “Pulitzer Prize of Student Journalism.”
The CT, as it’s also known, won second place in the four-year weekly newspaper category and Best in Show for a story about Title IX published in October. The newspaper was one of 15 publications at four-year universities to win the Pacemaker Award, and the only one in Virginia.
“I think we were some of the loudest people, honestly, when they called out The Commonwealth Times,” says Executive Editor Georgia Geen, a senior who also has worked with Richmond magazine as an editorial intern and freelance writer. Geen says winning the Pacemaker was the highlight of her three years at The CT.
“It was just really, really satisfying,” she says. “It made me feel like we had something tangible that we could point to for all the work that we’ve done in the past year and be like, ‘Yes, we’re on the right track.’ ”
Last week, the student publication made headlines for a different reason: censorship of the press. Members of VCU’s Student Government Association were seen removing copies of the newspaper from campus kiosks and throwing them in the garbage after the CT published a story in late February detailing conflicts within the student organization. The case is now under investigation by VCU Police, according to a tweet from the VCU Student Affairs Twitter account, while SGA senators have called for the impeachment of Breanna Harmon, its president. Virginia Del. Chris Hurst (D-Montgomery) also cited the incident while advocating for a bill he introduced to grant student journalists the right to exercise the freedom of speech and press in school-sponsored media.
