Beyond El Vaquero: What Glendale Community College Readers Are Missing on Statewide News
Glendale Community College's El Vaquero is doing something most outside outlets can't: covering campus life from the inside, day to day, produced by the college's journalism program.
Related: Beyond the campus newspaper: What Barstow College Readers Are Missing on Statewide News · Beyond the campus newspaper: What West Valley College Readers Are Missing on Statewide News
A single-campus paper can't reasonably also track statewide legislation affecting financial aid, transfer requirements, and community college funding, regional breaking news, or live public-safety conditions — and it shouldn't try to. That's a separate job, and it's CALWIRE's job.
What El Vaquero does well
What makes El Vaquero worth reading is exactly what CALWIRE can't offer: someone physically at Glendale Community College, covering campus policy, student government, athletics, and college life as it happens.
Where CALWIRE fills a different gap
Coverage that doesn't stop at the campus gate. CALWIRE follows California statewide — LA, the Bay Area, San Diego, Sacramento, the Central Valley — catching state decisions that reach Glendale Community College from outside.
Live safety data. A continuously-updated police/fire scanner and real-time traffic cameras live on the site, something a student newsroom isn't resourced to run.
Always publishing. There's no semester break for CALWIRE's wire and staff desks — a useful complement to a paper that runs on a school calendar.
More California local news comparisons
This is one piece in an ongoing CALWIRE series looking at how California readers can round out their local news diet. Related reads: CALWIRE vs. GV Wire and CALWIRE vs. Front Page Index.
See also: Beyond The Channels: What Santa Barbara City College Readers Are Missing on Statewide News · Beyond Southwestern College Sun: What Southwestern College Readers Are Missing on Statewide News
Frequently asked
Is this an official Glendale Community College publication?
No — CALWIRE is unaffiliated with Glendale Community College and its student press.
Is CALWIRE a substitute for El Vaquero?
Not really — different job. El Vaquero covers campus from the inside; CALWIRE covers the state around it.
Neither one replaces the other. El Vaquero stays close to Glendale Community College; CALWIRE stays close to the rest of California. Together they cover more ground than either could on its own.