UT Dallas Student Media

Staff members of The Mercury and other student media were recognized with national awards. Front row, from left: Ashley Gentry (AMP), Anwesha Bhattacharjee, Connie Cheng, Jonathan Chang (UTD TV) and Esteban Bustillos. Back row, from left: Miguel Perez, Jatin Julakanti (AMP), Octavio Samano (UTD TV), Tej Gidvani (UTD TV), Casey Crane (AMP) and Dylan Lathlean (AMP).

UT Dallas’ four student media groups each received awards this fall at national conventions.

The Mercury student newspaper was a finalist for the Associated Collegiate Press’ top recognition, the Pacemaker Award, and earned second place in the College Media Association’s Pinnacle Awards for Newspaper of the Year among nonweekly newspapers at four-year institutions.

The joint Associated Collegiate Press/College Media Association National Student Media Convention was held in Philadelphia.

The Mercury’s editor-in-chief Miguel Perez said that despite the newspaper’s relatively small staff, students are still able to create a quality product.

Radio UTD

Radio UTD staff won an award at the recent College Music Journal convention. From left: James Pacifico, station manager; Humza Khan, promotions manager; Hannah Steiner, programming director; Matthew Cocco, systems administrator; and Aarin Brown, music director.

“I’m proud of my team, and we’re excited to see how we can make the paper even better in upcoming months,” Perez said.

The Mercury also earned four individual CMA Pinnacle awards: Best Front Page, Best Entertainment Page, second place for Best Photo Illustration and third place for Best Photo Page/Spread. The newspaper placed first in ACP’s Newspaper Page/Spread and House Ad categories, and came in fifth for Comic Strip/Panel.

Media Honors

         CMA Pinnacle Awards
The Mercury: Pacemaker Award finalist; Best Front Page, first place; Best Entertainment Page, first place; Best Photo Illustration, second place; Best Photo Page/Spread, third place
UTD TV: Best TV Promo/PSA, second place

                ACP Awards
The Mercury: Newspaper Page/Spread, first place; House Ad, first place; Newspaper of the Year, second place; Best of Show (Four-year, Non-weekly newspapers), third; Comic Strip/Panel, fifth place AMP: Feature Magazine, fifth place

      College Music Journal
Radio UTD: Best Use of Limited Resources, winner; Best Student-run, Internet-only Radio Station, nominated

UTD TV also received a CMA Pinnacle Award, coming in second for Best TV Promo/PSA.

In the ACP’s Best of Show category, The Mercury placed third for Four-year, Non-weekly newspapers, while the student opinion magazine AMP earned fifth in Feature Magazine.

Meanwhile, at the College Music Journal convention in New York City, Radio UTD won the award for Best Use of Limited Resources and was nominated the second year in a row for Best Student-run, Internet-only Radio Station, which it won in 2013.  

Station manager James Pacifico said Radio UTD’s staff is motivated to grow the station and its programming.

“It showed us that our hard work is being recognized and it encourages us to keep going,” Pacifico said. “We want to do more with businesses in the area, more online content, maybe even expand our on-air programming. I can’t wait to see where Radio UTD is a few years down the line.”

Chad Thomas, director of Student Media, said UT Dallas is gaining a reputation for its student media excellence, and having all four groups housed together in the lower level of the Student Union has built teamwork.

“Since coming together in the same office in 2012, it has been amazing to see the students form friendships and collaborate on new projects. They challenge, support and inspire each other. Their work, in many ways, is a byproduct of the culture they’ve fostered.”