Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-1986

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Communication

Major Professor

James A. Crook

Committee Members

George Everett, Herbert Howard, John Ray, Bonnie Hufford

Abstract

Significant differences occurred when five major characteristics of award-winning scholastic newspapers were crosstabulated with the newspapers' rankings and subjected to the chi-square test. Those characteristics were (a) the adviser's high school newspaper advising experience, (b) the adviser's attendance at workshops, (c) the adviser's formal education in journalism, (d) the adviser's professional experience in journalism, and (e) the newspaper's membership in high school publications organizations.

This study investigated high school newspapers and the people who produce them. The population consisted of 373 scholastic newspapers entered in Columbia Scholastic Press Association's yearly contest/ critique in 1985 and in at least two of the years 1981-1984. A sample of 189 was drawn, and mail questionnaires were used to survey the advisers of those newspapers. The response rate was 71.9 percent.

Findings suggest that an adviser who learns from his or her experience may help a newspaper to improve. They also suggest that the adviser should learn more about journalism by attending workshops, taking college courses, and working with a professional newspaper. Finally, they indicate that newspapers should join several organizations for high school publications in order to gain additional training and motivation.

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