The Associated Collegiate Press has named 30 publications as 2007 Online Pacemaker finalists. The Pacemaker is ACP's highest honor and has been described by many as the Pulitzer Prize of collegiate journalism.

Judging of the 155 online entries was coordinated by Ju-Don Roberts, managing editor of the Washingtonpost.com. She said her staff was impressed with the inventive designs even within the templates of a publishing service.

"There were a lot of strong entries in this year's submissions. Many of the sites we reviewed were well-designed and easy to navigate. Some had serious design issues. A lot of the sites used templates from a college publishing service, but even within those parameters, we saw sites that were trying to push the boundaries and be inventive."

The number of entries was up 48 percent from 2006. Judges said the entries that stood out the most were those that didn't just reprint the newspaper in digital formats.

"Some of the websites were really embracing the signature features of Web 2.0, including multimedia, comments, ratings and other social networking options. The best sites were thorough, covering both breaking news as well as indepth features, with a lot of the bells and whistles mentioned previously."

But in the end, the sites that made it to the final round were those that maintained high standards of journalism.

"The quality of the journalism was extremely important to us as we reviewed the sites. Let me stress that great designs and a lot of cool features won't mask a thinly reported or poorly edited site. The journalism is what matters most. Although all of the sites had room for improvement, some of what we saw was truly impressive."

Finalists will be honored and winners announced at the ACP/CMA National College Media Convention in October in Washington D.C.