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El Tecolote newspaper began as a project in a La Raza Studies class at San Francisco State. Prof. Juan Gonzales created the class as a way to channel Latino students into journalism careers. Latinos and other people of color were virtually invisible in the major newsrooms at the time. As a final project, the class produced a bilingual newspaper called El Tecolote, which hit the streets on August 24, 1970. The newspaper soon moved to the community and became a training ground for the community to learn advocacy journalism.
El Tecolote began as a volunteer effort and continues in that vein with approximately 90 percent of the staff dedicated volunteers. It is the longest running Spanish/English bilingual newspaper serving the Bay Area.
Nearly 35 years later the newspaper continues to provide original local news and to be a pipeline to journalism. El Tecolote's archives represent a historical record of Mission district activism and the social, political, cultural and economic development of our community. Our stories continue to present the diverse spectrum of Latino life.
 Every other Thursday, 10,000 free copies of El Tecolote are distributed throughout the Mission District via restaurants, libraries, and social service centers. The newspaper has played an important advocacy role in the community, taking up vital community issues often ignored by the mainstream news media.
In the early '70s, we reported on the dearth of bilingual operators on the 911 emergency line. El Tecolote conducted a two-year study and found that it took an average of four minutes longer to get help in Spanish. Our news coverage combined with community activism resulted in hearings before the Public Utilities Commission.
In 1977, El Tecolote received complaints from several people that the main medical facility serving the Spanish-speaking community - SF General Hospital - had no trained medical translators. El Tecolote's consistent coverage of the issue helped spread the word of this potential life or death issue. Eventually, the State Department of Health did an investigation and issued the hospital a letter of non-compliance on bilingual services. Ten months after our coverage began, the hospital established a bilingual unit with 26 interpreters trained in medical terminology.
El Tecolote also played an important role in promoting the talents of Mission district artists. Our Arts and Culture pages were often the first to cover local artists who are now nationally recognized. In 1971 we ran an interview with Jose Santana, the proud father of the talented up and coming guitarist, Carlos Santana. We first covered internationally known Latin jazz percussionist John Santos when he was a teenager arrested in San Francisco's Dolores Park for playing his conga drum too loudly. These are just two examples of a vast collection of articles that have recognized and promoted local talent.
Since its inception, El Tecolote has had an open door policy that invites community members to join the volunteer staff, bringing a vast array of experiences and skills. The newspaper has also published several special supplements, including a literary section edited by major local Latino writers and a youth publication called Fuerza Joven, which provided training for neighborhood teens.
Over the past 35 years, El Tecolote has become a proven pipeline for attracting Latinos to journalism. Several volunteers who began their journalism experience at El Tecolote have gone on to full-time journalism careers in the mainstream media. They include Hector Tobar, Buenos Aires bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times and others who now work for the Sacramento Bee and the San Diego Tribune. This role is especially important today when only 11 percent of the editorial staff in mainstream newsrooms are Latinos and when urban high school journalism programs are becoming the victims of cutbacks.
El Tecolote truly is a community institution.
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