About el Don
Your voice matters
The Santa Ana College el Don is the nation’s top community college news organization. It has served the campus community with fair and accurate journalism since 1923.
As part of their journalism coursework, student reporters learn contemporary skills needed to cover a wide range of issues and subjects that affect students and neighbors alike. Their mission is to provide the Santa Ana College community with a quality news media organization that informs, engages and amplifies the voices of the people it serves.
A digital-first publication, el Don posts on social media and online daily and can be found in print through our monthly newsmagazine and zines, available across campus and throughout the city.
el Don has won 28 Associated Collegiate Press National Pacemaker Awards and was inducted into the Associated Collegiate Press College Journalism Hall of Fame in 2008.
el Don encourages the expression of all views, and reserves the right to refuse advertising. It does not necessarily subscribe to the views of its advertisers.
Join el Don
el Don is produced by students enrolled in multimedia production courses in the Communications and Media Studies’ 21st-century journalism program.
Santa Ana College student news media have won more local, state and national awards than any community college in the United States. Our students routinely win state, national and international honors for journalistic skills that include: editorial leadership, writing, reporting, design, photography, emerging media and management.
Email department chair, Associate Professor Sarah Bennett, for more information or enroll in one of the following production courses to automatically join the staff. No prior experience or equipment necessary.
Enroll in one of these el Don courses:
Fall 2022: el Don media production courses meet on Mondays and Wednesdays starting at 1:15 p.m. End times vary.
- CMSD 123A: Beginning News Media Production
- CMSD 201: Visual Reporting
- CMSD 222: Writing Across Media
Read more about el Don
- “Meet the 2022 Solutions Journalism Student Media Challenge Cohort” (July, 2022)
- “Supporting student newsrooms in meeting community information needs” (Journalism + Design, The New School)
- “For More Diverse Newsrooms, It’s Time to Rebuild the Journalism Pipeline” (Neiman Lab, Harvard)
- “Award-Winning Journalism Adviser for el Don Student Newspaper Retires from Santa Ana College after 35 Years” (June 2021)
- “SAC’s el Don Student Newspaper Receives Multiple Recognitions at National Pacemaker Awards” (October 2020)
- “SAC’s El Don Wins First-Place at The 62nd Annual Southern California Journalism Awards” (September 2020)
Degrees and Certs:
- A.A. in Journalism w/transfer guarantee
- Communications and Media Studies C.A.
- Writing For the Media C.A.
- Media Theory C.A.
- Public Relations C.A.
Newsroom
1530 W. 17th St. | C-201
Santa Ana, Calif. 92706
(714) 564-5616