What Editors and Educators Say about News-Editorial Education: Toward a Curriculum That Responds to Change.

A study compared attitudes of editors and educators concerning how undergraduate news-editorial programs should respond to newspaper industry change, in particular new technology and changing reader needs. A questionnaire was mailed to 352 editors (representing small, medium-sized, and large newspapers) and 186 professors at undergraduate degree-granting schools that hold membership in the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication. A total of 266 of the 538 questionnaires were returned, for an overall response rate of 49.4%. Results indicated that editors were more skeptical than educators toward the teaching of technological advancements to undergraduates. Both groups believed that writing readable, accurate copy is the most important skill that journalism educators should teach. Results also indicated that editors were more willing than educators to teach students to think of newspapers as products to be marketed to their audience. (Twelve tables of data are included; the survey instrument is attached. Contains 15 references.) (RS)