 "Photo: Alec Surmani / The Advocate")
When Sam Attal joined the student publication during his junior year at Middle College High School in spring 2008, he was unsure if journalism was right for him.
Yet steadily, he submerged himself into the craft and now possesses a sense of direction and a range of skill sets that continue to grow.
It is this willingness to expand his photography, writing, pagination and graphic abilities that resulted in Attal, currently in his fifth semester, being elected as the next editor-in-chief of Contra Costa College’s student newspaper, The Advocate, for the 2010-11 academic year.
The 19-year-old associate editor’s readiness for the position was clear in the way that he took initiative throughout 2009-10, Social Media Editor Brent Bainto said, serving as the main facilitator in the newspaper’s entire production process, especially by ways of artwork and pagination.
“His growth was so exponential, and he’s very definite with what he wants,” Bainto said. “He’ll bring important issues to The Advocate and report what needs to be reported, (including) following up on everything that’s being left for him.”
He has a strong understanding for what an editor is supposed to be because he has been studying the role by working with veteran staff members and people who have done similar tasks, Associate Editor Alec Surmani said.
Despite praise, Attal remains modest about his skills, because he does not feel he has much experience in certain areas.
“I didn’t get to the level that I wanted to be at as a designer yet,” he said. “I’m still adapting to the tools and learning from other people on staff.”
To some extent, this has presented somewhat of a challenge in venturing into more creative graphics, he said, but he hopes to delve deeper into this category, starting with a potential redesign of the newspaper.
Along with the responsibilities of distributing assignments and maintaining coverage for pre-existing stories, Attal must rebuild the Editorial Board, as several veteran staff members are planning to transfer in the fall.
Though the loss will be difficult, Attal is confident that by encouraging more people to be involved in the production process by offering informational crash courses, for example, a cohesive team with a fair distribution of work can be created.
Surmani agreed that starting fresh with few editors and few designers can prove to be advantageous to the continuing and incoming staffers, as it presents them with the opportunity for newfound responsibilities.
He said that Attal’s biggest problem will be overcoming the fact that he can be viewed as being too stern.
“I think that people are going to realize that after a certain amount of time that he can be a little harsh, but in general, it’s done with the intention of creating not just a better paper, but a better experience within the program,” he said.
Combined with the fact that journalism deals with strict deadlines, Attal’s tendency to be strict when necessary is important to the success of the paper, Surmani said.
Though he is a bit of a “curmudgeon” and looks serious most of the time, faculty adviser Paul DeBolt said, over the course of time spent on the publication, Attal’s interpersonal communication skills have improved.
“He’s focused; he’s got a lot of energy. He’s gained the respect of the staff,” DeBolt said. “He’s grown to that place where he’s ready to be editor.”
While working on the paper, Attal has also held a part-time job at the college Bookstore and since January, has served as an intern two days a week at KTVU Channel 2 News Station in Oakland, finding file footage alongside editors for stories and assisting other interns in managing scripts.
Before finishing the internship at the end of August, he hopes to venture into the process of converting scripts into news articles to be published on the KTVU Web site.
He hopes to build upon the work that former editors have done, as well as begin focusing on online multimedia content.
Contact Holly Pablo at hpablo.advocate@gmail.com
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