Publication
The Office of Student Publications at UTM publishes The Pacer as special editions approximately three times a semester, except for holidays and exam periods, with all other news published on the website and social media. The typical circulation for our print issue is 1,500 to 2,000 issues every issue during the semester. Our newspaper is distributed free on the UTM campus and at many local advertisers’ place of business. We have 11 bins stationed around campus in high-traffic areas.
Mission
The Pacer is dedicated to its goal of delivering accurate information to the UT Martin and surrounding community. Our motto has remained unchanged throughout the years: Seek Truth.
History
Founded in 1928 as The Checkerboard, The Pacer is the student-run newspaper at the University of Tennessee at Martin. After beginning as The Checkerboard, the newspaper became The Volette and remained that way until October of 1971, where it became The Pacer, named after the then-nickname for UTM athletics, the Pacers. Even after UTM changed its nickname to the Skyhawks, the newspaper kept its name.
“By an overwhelming margin, the staff voted to retain the Pacer moniker for two reasons. First, The Pacer reflects an ever-evolving, pace-setting entity, and we believed the newspaper should continue to represent such on campus. Second, the staff believed that retaining the name would make it clear that the newspaper does not necessarily follow the recommendations of consultants,” said Dr. Robert Nanney, former Pacer advisor and current chair of the Department of Mass Media and Strategic Communications.
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The first staff as a student publication, who were known as The Checkers at the time. -
The first publication as The Checkerboard, which started out as a column in the Weakley County Press. -
The Checkerboard’s first stand-alone issue. -
The Checkerboard changed its name to The Volette and printed its first issue under the name change. -
The Pacer’s, what we are known as today, first issue after the last name change.
Submission Guidelines
Story ideas, news tips, or Letters to the Editor may be emailed to thepacer@ut.utm.edu or presented at our weekly staff meetings, held at 5:15 p.m. every Monday during the semester in Gooch 309. The Pacer welcomes comments, criticisms or ideas that its readership may have. Letters to the Editor should be a minimum of 300 words. Letters must contain the name and major or professional title of the author, as well as contact information. Submissions may be edited for grammar, spelling and brevity.
Advertising
If you are interested in advertsing with us, contact faculty advisor Dr. Kayli Plotner at kplotner@utm.edu for advertising rates and information.
I am attempting to obtain a photograph that was in the Pacer when i was a student there. The picture was taken in the Spring of 1978, and had Mike Cozart and Chuck Coleman in it. The picture was taken of us during the Spring ROTC Field Training Exercise.
Is there anyway that you could possibly still have the negative or a copy of that picture?
Thank you for your time
Hi Charles,
Sorry for taking a while to get back to you.
Sad to say, we don’t keep those kinds of things on file here at the Pacer office. The office itself is far too small to store that detailed of an archive.
However, I spoke to someone last semester at the Paul Meek Library here on campus who was involved with electronically scanning the old editions of the Pacer going back well into the early part of the 20th Century. You might consider calling the library during their business hours and asking about it there. They probably won’t have the photo negative, but they may at least have an electronic copy of the photo itself.
Hope that helps!
-Colby Anderson
-Viewpoints Editor
This it? (Page 7)
https://archive.org/details/ThePacer19780601/page/n5/mode/2up