A comparison of writing styles of 152 experienced journalists and 60 novice writers indicated professional reporters tend to use l~nger words, longer sentences, and more complex sentence structure. Comparisons among writing styles of four individual newspaper groups and the novice group identified 10 significant variables and indicated novice style is less comprehensible and cohesive. Newspaper styles differed along the stylistic dimension of creativeness and complexity. This study seems to be the first comparing writing styles of professional and student journalists using computer- generated measurements of stylistic variables. The technique seems promising, and further research to refine the process is encouraged.Higher Educatio
