The journalism program at Fullerton College is the oldest in collegiate journalism program in Orange County and one of the oldest in the state. It is part of Fullerton College, the longest continually operating community colleges in the 114 campus California system.
The program provides students with essential workforce training for today ant tomorrow media world, as well as providing them with skills to handle the academic rigor in preparation for transfer to universities.
The student-produced newspaper was established in 1922 as the Weekly Torch. The publication has provided a resource for students to hone their skills in a real journalistic environment. The award-winning publication has evolved into The Hornet, which is now a multimedia news outlet with its complementary social media and its own app.
The annual Torch yearbook was also established the same year as the newspaper. In the 1950s the yearbook evolved into the biannual Torch magazine. The Torch has since evolved into the quarterly Inside Fullerton magazine. The magazine provides an opportunity for students to hone real-world skills by working on a community-focused magazine.
In understanding Fullerton College’s rich history with divers groups and as a designated Hispanic Serving Institution by the Department of Education, and further understanding the bilingual media market, the Journalism Program created a Spanish Language Media course and the student-produced La Antorcha publication. The Spanish language publication and course is the first of its kind at a community college in California and allows students to report on a variety of issues in the surrounding Spanish speaking community.
The Journalism Program is committed to helping students attain high academic standards and provides honors courses to help achieve these goals.
The program has a long history with strong relationships in the community and in the media profession and continues to build on these. This commitment helps provide even more resources for students.
The Journalism Program at Fullerton College continues to provide students the education and hands-on training in tomorrow’s media field by offering courses on social media, data visualization, drone reporting, virtual and augmented reality storytelling. The program has created short courses in each to allow for working professionals to develop their skills in the new technology.
The program’s primary focus remains to help build successful students and prepare them for tomorrow’s world.