El Tecolote is a free bilingual, biweekly newspaper published by the nonprofit Acción Latina, and based in San Francisco that covers the

Mission District The Mission District (Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as The Mission (Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is ...

and the surrounding area for the

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

community. It is the longest running bilingual newspaper that is printed in both English and Spanish in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The newspaper can also be read online daily.

History

El Tecolote can trace its roots to student activism from 1970. The newspaper began as a project in a

La Raza The Spanish expression ('the people' or 'the community'; literal translation: 'the race') has historically been used to refer to the Hispanophone populations (primarily though not always exclusively in the Western Hemisphere), considered as ...

Studies class at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...

that was created by Juan Gonzales, who wanted to try to channel more Latinos into

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...

. The final project of this class was to create a bilingual newspaper in English and Spanish. The founder and first editor was Juan Gonzales. It was first printed and came out on August 24, 1970. It was named El Tecolote, Spanish for "The Owl." Its signature

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...

is the wise owl. In 1971 the newspaper moved out of the university and into the Mission District, becoming now part of the community. The paper is published and managed by Accion Latina, a nonprofit organization that promotes social activities that help empower the Latino community in San Francisco.

Latino community newspaper

The newspaper is written primarily for the Latino community in the Mission District, capturing the everyday life of Latinos, and focusing on local and community affairs that affect them, and covering stories that are often ignored by the mainstream media. The paper writes original news stories, telling news from the Latino point of view. Promoting Latino civil rights, helping to create community identity, and writing stories about the culture of the Latino community are some of the goals of the paper. The paper is largely staffed by volunteers, and many college students and young journalists have written for the paper.

Online, social media, and podcasts

The paper has met the challenges of technological change in media by adapting to the digital age by adding a website and now also having

online publication Electronic publishing (also referred to as publishing, digital publishing, or online publishing) includes the digital publication of e-books, digital magazines, and the development of digital libraries and catalogues. It also includes the editi ...

. The stories that come out in its printed newspaper are picked from the stories that have come from its online publication. And the paper now has a

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

page, a

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account, and is on Instagram. On March 1, 2021, the publication launched its podcast, Radio Teco. The digital arm of the long-standing bilingual El Tecolote newspaper, the podcast dives into the rich and nuanced cultural history of Latinx communities across the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Episodes are released every Monday, with occasional bonus episodes released throughout the week. The podcast follows the launch of the bilingua
Making of a Candidate/El Camindo del CandidatX
podcast mini-series, which debuted on October 30, 2020.

Coverage and distribution

The paper covers the Mission District and the surrounding areas of

Excelsior Excelsior, a Latin comparative word often translated as "ever upward" or "even higher", may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * ''Excelsior'' (Macedo ...

Bernal Heights Bernal Heights ( ) is a residential neighborhood in southeastern San Francisco, California. The prominent Bernal Heights hill overlooks the San Francisco skyline and features a microwave transmission tower. The nearby Sutro Tower can be seen from ...

, and the

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties ...

. The paper has thousands of people reading it online, and the paper also distributes 10,000 free copies every two weeks throughout the Mission District and the East Bay by way of restaurants, libraries, clinics and social service centers.

References

External links