Mission

The Orange County Press Club exists to support, promote, and defend quality journalism in Southern California. We believe that a free press is crucial to a free society.

About the Press Club

The Orange County Press Club exists to support, promote, and defend quality journalism in Southern California. We seek to encourage journalists by providing networking opportunities and hosting regular events with topics of interest to a broad spectrum of journalists.

Our members include Orange County based publishers, editors, journalists, reporters, broadcasters, public information officers, public relations professionals and journalism students.

The primary mission of the club is to provide a networking opportunity for those employed by news organizations, magazines and new media in Orange County. The club’s goal is to foster relationships among the members of the OC Press, to support those interested in entering the profession, and to recognize excellence in writing and reporting in Orange County.

History

By one historical account, a press club in Orange County first gathered on May 26, 1916 at the James Cafe in downtown Santa Ana. A few other iterations of press clubs happened over the years. The Press Club as known today was started in 1953 in the living room of then Orange County Register Civic Editor Harry Harvey.