Pursue the story. Tell the truth. Make it matter.
Alumni Spotlight: Lauren Sanchez — television personality, media executive, and astronaut — began her journalism career right here at El Camino College, writing and reporting for this very newsroom. Her story is proof that a seat in this room can be the first step toward anywhere. This is where she started. So can you.
Step into a real college newsroom and learn journalism the way it is actually practiced. This four-day intensive invites high school students (grades 9–12) behind the scenes of El Camino College's award-winning campus newspaper — one of the most respected community college publications in California and the Nation — to work alongside the real journalists who produce it.
Students will pitch and report a real story, conduct on-campus interviews, write to professional standards with AP Style, work through an editor's critique, and leave with a published piece and a journalism portfolio start. Instruction is led by working campus journalists who cover real news every week.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the four-day session, high school students will be able to:
• Report, research, and write a complete news or feature article to professional standards
• Apply AP Style and copy-editing techniques used in real newsrooms
• Conduct on-the-record interviews and evaluate source credibility
• Understand press ethics, First Amendment protections, and journalistic responsibility
• Use basic photojournalism and digital layout tools
• Discuss pathways into journalism careers and begin a professional portfolio
