M. L. "Mike" Stein, M.A., has more than 40 years of experience a journalist, author and teacher. After 16 years as a reporter for mid-size and metropolitan dailies as well as national magazines, Stein served as professor and chairman of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at New York University and the Department of Journalism at California State University, Long Beach. He also has reported from overseas. Stein is the author of several books on journalism and general writing skills, including "Getting & Writing the News," "How to Write Plain English," and "When Presidents Meet the Press." A native of Escanaba, Mich., he lives in Irvine, Calif., where he writes a newspaper column and contributes to various other newspapers and magazines. He holds degrees from the University of Missouri and Stanford University.

Susan F. Paterno, M.S.J., director of the journalism program at Chapman University in Orange, Calif., is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years experience as a reporter, writer and columnist. A senior writer for "American Journalism Review," Professor Paterno has also written for the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, Parenting and many other publications. She has collaborated on a half dozen books, including writing The Newswriters Handbook and Talk Straight, Listen Carefully: The Art of Interviewing with M.L. Stein, the former chair of New York University's Department of Journalism and Mass Communications. For nearly a decade, Professor Paterno served on the staff of the Orange County Register, where she won numerous awards for writing and reporting, and several fellowships for post-graduate study. She holds a post-graduate degree from the University of Southern California, a M.S. J. from Northwestern University and two A.B. degrees from Occidental College in Los Angeles, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa with honors in American Studies and Diplomacy and World Affairs.

R. Christopher Burnett, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of journalism at California State University, Long Beach. Burnett worked for more than a decade as a political reporter in Washington, D.C. He also has worked in public relations, on political campaigns, and as an editor and a reporter on newspapers in Colorado, Michigan, New York, and Ohio. He still works as a freelance writer. He has a Ph.D. in political science from Colorado State University, a master's degree in political science from George Washington University, and a master's degree in journalism from The Ohio State University. A native of Ohio, his undergraduate degree is from Ohio Wesleyan University.