Extra! Extra! Read All About the History of the Student Newspaper Through the Years

The student newspaper stands as a pillar of expression and community engagement, covering news and stories on people and events throughout the campus.

Starting in the early 1960s, California State University, Dominguez Hills’ student newspaper has won awards. It’s also changed names, formats and gone from black and white to color. The publication has allowed students to cover, reflect upon and disseminate information to the campus.

While plans are in the works to rebrand the newspaper, its previous name have included The Toro Times, Dominguez News, Weekly Toros and the current CSUDH Bulletin.

“The department is looking to make a brand new impact coming soon to CSUDH,” said Communications Department chair Dr. Brant Burkey. “We will be making many updates to our system and will add a fresh coat of paint to our Journalism program to keep them in the best shape they can be to help students develop in all the most effective ways.”

With the faculty providing lessons on how to write a lead, perfect a cutline and start a story with an anecdote, students have been able to put these tricks of the trade into practice thanks to the newspaper.

The goal is for students to report on topics that are current. These ideas can be mainstream or underlying issues that need to be addressed.

The student newspaper dates back to 1965 when it was known as “The Mariner.”

This era was known as the “birth of journalism” at Dominguez Hills and played a pivotal role in nurturing the next generation of journalists and storytellers. Aspiring writers and reporters found a platform to hone their craft, amplify their voices and make their mark on the world.

In the debut edition, Jackson Lion the editor-in-chief wrote: “We have a focus to make this an efficient newspaper and hope the community will back our future endeavors of reporting positive news writing.”

The student newspaper was also know as El Trompetero in 1967 and the Weekly Bull in 1969.

In 1970 the name changed to “The Newspaper.” The first issue featured the start of student roles, where editors managed sections of the paper in the capacity of editor-in-chief, managing editor, news editor, sports editor and art director. These roles have kept a solid balance for each team of students to communicate and focus on what needs to get done per each issue of the newspaper.

As students became more active, so did the reporting, with a noticeable increase in the coverage of campus events and issues compared to earlier issues in the late 1960s.

“Roles make students flow and communicate in any work environment,” Dr. Burkey said.

In 1973, students and faculty supported globally impactful ideas in society, and the cover echoed these thoughts by detailing the pure emotions of the message in the captions and photos. Students also balanced a saga of the newspaper, where there were numerous rebranding efforts that shaped a landscape for how the newspaper would represent the campus.

Beginning at the start of 1970, the name changed several times—Weekly Bull, Daily Planet, Nameless News, Toro’s Hoofbeat, Weekly Journal, then finally Dominguez News. Tom Philo, archivist/cataloger for CSUDH’s Gerth Archives and Special Collections Department, detailed that the rebranding during this five- to eight-year stretch was to maintain attention and prevent the newspaper from becoming stagnant.

In 1974, CSUDH students decided to captivate a larger audience and named the newspaper The Daily Planet. This publication quickly became impactful, as its catchy planet symbol and bold title were eye-catching. According to Hazel Jenson, a part-time historian at CSUDH, the name for this publication was intentionally selected to resonate with the audience familiar with the iconic newspaper from the Detective Comic’s realm where Superman worked as a journalist.

This nod to pop culture added an extra layer of appeal and recognition to the publication, making it stand out among its peers.

In 1978, the newspaper adopted the iconic and long-lasting name, Dominguez News. This name lasted 13 years. In this edition of the paper, art director Nancy Sue said that the staff not only “wanted to make an impact on campus but on the world” with their front page design.

According to Philo, this edition also won an award in the Carson community for “Best Journalistic Direction” for a local newspaper.

In 1984, The Bull’s Eye replaced the Dominguez News name. According to Joseph Joe, a former archivist at CSUDH’s Gerth Archives and Special Collections, “The leaders of the Communications Department saw differences in options” when it came to analyzing the best branding for Dominguez Hills.

In the 1990s, the school newspaper was briefly called Dominguez News again, as well as The Toro Times and The Rainbow. Some of the top stories of the day recognized the pressing need to address gender inequality and feminism.

With a commitment to amplifying the voices and experiences of women, the newspaper dedicated some of its focus to highlighting the contributions and achievements of women within the campus community and beyond.

In addition to fostering greater gender equality and appreciation for women’s rights, the school newspaper continued to highlight other important developments on campus with its distinctive yet diverse articles, features and opinions.

At the start of the 2000s, color was added to the student-run newspaper. This made the paper more interesting and let students who worked for the paper enjoy the feeling of seeing their work in a nice setting.

In 2001 “The Informer” made its way as the start of a pure creative mindset with the ability of consistently adding color to the paper. Once the newspaper was rebranded to the “CSUDH Bulletin” it implemented the ideas of the school color, which actually increased the number of people picking up the newspaper by 17 percent, according to the CSUDH archives.

With all of the newspaper’s aspects looking solid, this consistent wave continued until 2009 when CSUDH had to shut down its journalism program due to lack of funding from the university.

According to the Los Angeles Times, “Dominguez Hills administrators shuttered the student newspaper to save $76,000, making it the only general education California State University campus (the Maritime Academy has no paper) without a regular outlet for student journalism.”

They saw this as a better approach, yet the Journalism program advocated strongly to secure their newspaper back into the heart of their Toros in 2010. This gave a start of the “new generation” of journalism as it also led to the addition of more than 13 faculty members hired either part-time or full-time.

The Bull’s Eye was considered a catchy title at the time and editions focused more on how world society issues correlated with the “college experience,” wrote news and style editor Karen Days on page four of this particular issue.

In the 2010s, despite facing setbacks, the student newspaper at CSUDH managed to thrive. The department regained their newspaper and saw a new light in how they were going to propel their program.

The Communications Department received a boost with the launch of its online edition.

“We saw a massive increase in interest and because society was evolving, so did we,” said Dr. Fernando Severino, former Bulletin advisor.

This was a chance to change the way the campus saw the newspaper. Writers and editors focused on mainstream attention. The audience loved this, as overall retention rates went up 56 percent via the CSUDH Bulletin website.

In the 2020s, the Journalism program obtained national accreditation in the early 2020s and since then the program has been improving. Former advisor Dr. Severino spearheaded the release of a series of media/podcast projects, revitalizing the legacy of the newspaper.

Adam Elrashidi, the current advisor for the newspaper, now called The Bulletin, says the newspaper holds immense potential and is truly remarkable in allowing upcoming journalism students to master their skills.

“It’s amazing and I love being able to have a part of an opportunity that shapes our decade of new journalists,” Elrashidi said. “I love the students and they surprise me every day with their abilities and I only wish the best for each individual.”