Stephen J. Nelson is professor of educational leadership at Bridgewater State University and Senior Scholar with the Leadership Alliance at Brown University. In this Q&A, "New England Journal of Higher Education" ("NEJHE") Executive Editor John O. Harney asks Nelson what lessons today's leaders could learn from his latest…

Offers the views of a professional feature writer on ways to write good feature stories. (GT)

Explains how high school journalists can serve as powerful leaders within the school by recognizing at least four journalistic functions of a newspaper: informing, explaining, analyzing, and persuading. (DF)

The first year of the author's job as a high school newspaper adviser was marked by her overenthusiastic acceptance of responsibilities, a plague of printing mistakes, and a search for ways to instill standards of accuracy in student reporters. (RL)

Discusses the role of the critic in journalism and argues that student journalists should confine their critical reviews to professional performances and should write straight news stories of school performances. (TJ)

States that many school newspapers are condensing all advertising into one or two pages. Indicates that advertisers find this to be acceptable, students continue to read the ads, and the content pages look better. (TJ)

Profiles Jesse Coronado, editor-in-chief of the University of California student newspaper, and outlines his plans to enlist minority staff and to broaden the paper's minority coverage and appeal. (HTH)

Suggests ways the business office of a student newspaper can ease the conflicts between news and advertising space, including: raising advertising rates, selling ads only in uniform sizes, charging extra for premium space, selling special features, and selling space around a monthly calendar of special events. (TJ)

Offers a roundup of what happened to high school newspapers and yearbooks when Mt. St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980. (FL)

Argues that the present form of news writing, the "pyramid style," has become obsolete, especially for school newspapers that are published less frequently than once a week. Indicates that readers are interested in the journalist's viewpoint and in a "journalistic conclusion" to stories. (TJ)

Points out the importance of the editorial page in student publications; suggests that student editorials tend to be trite and too often fail to provide serious examination of the local educational process and other important issues that directly affect students. (TJ)

Discusses the administration's view of student journalism and the student press, as presented by one high school principal. Recognizes the value of journalism as an effective teaching/learning tool and recommends that educators stimulate rather than stifle students' ideas. (KEH)

Maintains that good news reporting requires hard work, careful research, and even more careful verification. Notes that there is nothing old fashioned about news reporting, except that, like fine antiques, good news reporting in scholastic publications is hard to find. (RS)

Maintains that student photographers must improve their knowledge of equipment, elements of composition, and photo editing to eliminate weaknesses in student publication photography. (SR)

Suggests ways to apply some contemporary business ideas to school publications, regarding advertisers, sources, and distribution. (SR)