About The Advocate
The Advocate is a student-led news organization published at Contra Costa College in San Pablo, California.
Reporters and photographers on the staff of The Advocate cover the campus – which straddles the border of San Pablo and Richmond in the East Bay Area – as well as the nearby community and the Contra Costa Community College District. Our journalists cover topics ranging from college district governance and campus policies to features, sports and local entertainment.
Our publication comprises staff who are enrolled in our News Production Staff courses: Journalism 122, 123, 222 and 223.
For more information about joining the staff of The Advocate, reach journalism department chair and Advocate adviser Annie Sciacca at [email protected]
Our Mission
The Advocate is a student-produced news publication and public forum for our college community. We pursue truth with accuracy and fairness, report and interpret issues of significance, and provide space for diverse viewpoints. We exercise the freedom and responsibility of the student press — including the right to question and the right not to publish — while holding ourselves accountable for the accuracy and completeness of our work.
Guided by professional ethics and supported by faculty advisers as educators, not censors, we strive to produce quality journalism that informs, leads, and educates, while serving as a laboratory for learning and responsible free expression.
The role of our adviser
In line with the Canons of Community College Journalism, the Journalism Education Association and decades of case law, the role of the publication adviser is to:
- Be an educator and coach — not a censor — who teaches reporting, editing, ethics, and media law while preserving students’ editorial autonomy.
- Provide guidance on accuracy, fairness, taste, and legal risk; but final content decisions rest with the student staff.
- Defend student press freedom, model professional standards, and foster an inclusive, accountable newsroom culture.
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Contact us
General inquiries can be submitted via email at [email protected]
See our staff page to contact individual members of our staff.
Submit a Tip
The Advocate is a student-run newsroom dedicated to informing our campus and community by holding institutions accountable and amplifying important stories. Many of our articles begin with tips and insights from students, faculty, and community members.
If you have information, experiences, or documents you’d like to share, we encourage you to reach out.
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Submit a tip via our secure, encrypted web portal
Submit an Opinion or Letter to the Editor
The Advocate provides a space where students, faculty, and community members can share perspectives, debate issues, and engage in open dialogue. In this role, the publication helps uphold First Amendment values on campus and strengthens civic participation by ensuring diverse voices are heard.
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Put Something in the Mail
Attention: The Advocate
2600 Mission Bell Drive
San Pablo, Calif., 94806
Phone
Contact the newsroom at (510) 215-3822