Brian S. Brooks has served as editor-in-chief of the Columbia Missourian and as European editor of Stars and Stripes, the U.S. military newspaper in Europe and the Middle East. He served as a faculty member and administrator at the Missouri School of Journalism for 38 years, the last 10 of those as associate dean for undergraduate studies. He continues to work part-time at the school. Brooks served as deputy director or director of the Dow Jones News Fund internship program at Missouri for more than 40 years. He is the co-author of four journalism textbooks and is a member of the Missouri Press Association Newspaper Hall of Fame.

James L. Pinson has worked for newspapers in Missouri, Colorado and Michigan and holds a doctorate in journalism from the Missouri School of Journalism, where he also taught for six years. He additionally taught 25 years in the journalism program at Eastern Michigan University, where he is now a professor emeritus, and for 13 summers in the Dow Jones News Fund's internship program. In addition to this book, he and Brian S. Brooks are also co-authors of Working With Words: A Handbook for Media Writers and Editors along with Jean Gaddy Wilson (Bedford/St. Martin's).