Did you know that OCC has had a continuous journalism program since its founding? A truly remarkable feat to produce a newspaper by October of 1948, just about one month after classes started that fall. Out of only 500 students registered in that first semester, the newspaper enrolled about 30 student reporters, editors, and staff.
By way of introduction to this story, I asked one of the Editors of the LA Times to comment:
When I walked into the newsroom of the Coast Report for the first time in the fall of 2002, I had no idea of its history – or that I would become a small part of that history. My first assignment was to talk to and photograph students on the Quad about the first week of school. So I went out with my reporter's notepad, two pens (always have a backup), and a brick of a digital camera that stored its very low-quality images on a 3.5-inch floppy disk.
By the time I left that newsroom in 2005, I had been a reporter, copy editor, managing editor, and chief editor. I'd also made lifelong friends, learned enough to land an internship at the Daily Pilot (which helped launch my journalism career), and worked on a few stories that made Orange Coast College a better place.
My generation was among the last to publish a print edition of the Coast Report. (I sure hope we were the last to use those clunky cameras.) And while I'll miss the ink and paper, the media industry that today’s students will encounter requires that they use their training and instincts with new technology. So it’s reassuring to know that the mission of the paper lives on at coastreportonline.com.
Thank you to the student journalists and faculty advisors of the Barnacle, Coast Lines, and the Coast Report who preceded me and kept the thing going. It was an honor to be a steward of the paper for a short time. And thank you to the current students, faculty, and staff -- who continue to serve the OCC community with their journalism. I'll be a reader and fan on whatever platforms the Coast Report publishes over the next 75 years.
Matt Ballinger*Editor, Utility JournalismLos Angeles Times
The school newspaper has changed its name thrice in its 75-year history. The reasons for the name changes are humorous.
1st name: “Barnacle” was chosen by the Journalism students but rejected by the Student Government. The Student Government, however, put it to a campus vote. The Barnacle won by a 2:1 margin. In the second October 1948 publication, a paid advertiser (Costa Mesa bookstore) added a quote to their ad-space. “Barnacle” from the American College Dictionary states, “a thing or person that clings tenaciously” “We hope that OCC’s Barnacle will always cling to the right thing and that it will have a long life and a distinguishing one.”
2nd Name: “Coast Lines” lasted from 1972 to 1976. The Journalism staff chose Coast Lines because they didn't like the newspaper’s name to be related to a “parasitical creature.”
3rd Name: “Coast Report” became the new name in 1976. In the fall of 1976, Coastline Community College became the Coast District’s 3rd College. Confusion between “Coast Lines” and Coastline Community College prompted the name change. The new Coast Report re-established the volume numbering to be consistent between the Barnacle and Coast Lines, making this first edition of the “Coast Report” volume #30.
Story by Kevin Ballinger and *Matthew Ballinger
First Edition - 1948
1972 - 1976
From February 1976 issue of Coast Report explains name change
All print editions of the OCC Newspaper (1948-2017) are available in the Library Archive.
From 2018 on… Coast Report is Online at: coastreportonline.com | Serving Orange Coast College since 1948
For comments and suggestions: kballinger.r@retiree.cccd.edu