About

Check out The Union’s Publication Schedule and Advertisement policies

Welcome to The Union website, the student-run news organization of El Camino College in Torrance, California.

The work done here is by students in the Advanced Photojournalism, Magazine Editing and Production, Newspaper Publication and Multimedia Journalism classes. Our goal is to publish online daily during the spring and fall semesters. Each semester, we publish a print newspaper once every two to three weeks.

We are a full student-run publication, meaning all editorial decisions are made by students. Students choose the stories to assign and write, students edit the stories and students design each print edition of the newspaper. The editorials represent the views of the editorial board. The columns represent the views of the writer. Neither are representations of what the newspaper staff, other students, our advisers, faculty or the administration think.

Have a question or comment? Our email address is [email protected]. The newsroom phone number is 310-660-3328. The newsroom is located on the first floor on the west side of the Humanities Building at El Camino.

The adviser of The Union is Stefanie Frith.

Requests for deletions or removal

The Union does not remove content or delete details such as names from our website once published. Removing content would deny the community a full public record of the history of people and events at El Camino College and in the area, and would damage our credibility as we strive to be fair to all. Errors of fact can be corrected with a note to be inserted on the story pointing out the revision. All changes are at the discretion of the student editorial board.

Contact us at [email protected] or by calling our newsroom at 310-660-3328 during regular semesters.

Interview policy

The Union has a policy for reporters to refrain from conducting interviews via text messages and emails. Interviews are either done in person or over the phone. We understand that some sources might prefer interviews via text messages or emails,  but our reporters are instructed to arrange phone calls and in-person meetings in order to learn the art of conducting a back-and-forth interview in a professional manner. This policy helps keep interviews spontaneous and candid by avoiding pre-formulated, carefully scripted statements, and boosts transparency by assuring that any quotes are actually from the person being interviewed, not from a third party covering for the interview subject. Instantaneous follow-up questions – difficult and time-consuming to conduct via text or email messages, especially on deadline — lead to better, more interesting stories.

Letter to the editor and guest column policy

Students and other members of the El Camino College community outside the journalism staff are also invited to submit guest columns for consideration. Only guest columns relating to El Camino will be accepted. Unless the editorial board determines that an exception should be made, no more than two guest columns (including Campus Insight) from the same person will be considered for publication or online use in the same semester, and 60 days must elapse before a second column is published. Guest columns should generally run 300-450 words. Publication or rejection of any column is at the sole discretion of the editorial board.

Similarly, no more than two letters to the editor from the same person will be published in print or online during a semester, and 60 days must elapse between the first and second letter. Letters to the editor should generally run no longer than 200 words. All columns and letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and style. They must be free of libel and in good taste.

The identity of all column and letter writers must be confirmed.  Writers must supply their name, email address and telephone number. The writer’s email address will be published with columns. Only their name will be published with letters. We do not accept columns or letters for publication from anonymous writers.”