Credit: Librado Romero/The New York Times

Prior to joining The Times, Mr. Finder was a reporter for Newsday in Melville, L.I. from 1979-1983, covering local news, projects, political reporting and energy. He held various positions at The Bergen Record in Hackensack, N.J., from 1974-1979, including local news, projects and Sunday City editor.

Born in Brooklyn on February 19, 1948, Mr. Finder received a B.A. degree in history from the University of Rochester in 1969 and an M.A. degree in American Studies from Yale University in 1972.

Mr. Finder is married and has two children, and lives in Ridgewood, N.J.

Q.

3/27/06

How effective do you think the No Child Left Behind act has been?
Jane
Grade 12
New York

A.

Hi Jane,

This is a very difficult question, both because the experience around the country in responding to the law has been so uneven and because I haven't really covered the subject very much. But based on what many of my colleagues here have written in the paper -- and on conversations I've had with other reporters and editors -- I think No Child Left Behind has effectively forced school officials, principals, boards of education and teachers to really pay more attention to students who are not performing well in school.

What the law has been less effective in accomplishing, I think, is in providing additional money and other resources to school districts to provide extra help to the students who are most of need of help. We had a story in the paper just a few weeks ago, for example, that said that at least half of the children around the country who were supposed to get special private tutoring under No Child Left Behind are not being provided this tutoring.

As you probably know, there have also been many questions raised about whether schools are teaching just for the tests that are required under No Child Left Behind, rather than trying to stimulate students with a broader education. In fact, a colleague of mine, Sam Dillon, had an article in the paper just last weekend that said some schools had stopped teaching their lowest performing students in subjects like social studies, science and language -- and were forcing the students instead to take two and three classes a day in English and in math. I don't know if that is a good thing. What do you think? I'd be interested in your thoughts.

Alan

Q.

3/23/06

How does one become a journalist for such a prestigious newspaper such as The New York Times? It has always been a dream of mine to be a successful journalist, and in the future I would be honored to work at a highly acclaimed newspaper such as this.
Molly
Grade 9
Rhode Island

A.

Well, it takes effort and some skill and some luck, too, to get hired by a newspaper like The Times, Molly. In the old days, many and perhaps even most reporters came here right after college as clerks; they would answer the phones and get coffee for the editors for a few years and then, if they showed promise as reporters, they would become reporter-trainees.

But it doesn't really work that way anymore. Nearly everyone who gets hired here now has first worked at several other newspapers. Usually people start working after college at a small newspaper and then, if they do well there, they get hired at a larger newspaper. Many of the reporters who are hired here are in the late twenties or early thirties, and a lot of them have worked as reporters for perhaps five or ten years before they are hired at The Times. So by the time they get here, they know a lot about how to report and write stories, but, of course, there is still much more to learn.

For example, one of my colleagues here was hired from the Providence Journal, in your state, where he had worked for several years and had distinguished himself as both a really talented writer and also as a resourceful investigative reporter. He's now a columnist at The Times, actually, so that tells you how good a writer he must be.

If you really want to become a journalist, make sure you work for your high school newspaper and for the newspaper at the college you go to some day. The more you write, the better writer you will become. And have some fun while you're at it. We're lucky to go out and meet unusual and interesting people and to write about. I hope you get the chance to do that, too. Good luck.

Alan

Q.

3/21/06

I see that you have really covered a lot of beats in your career. Are most journalists generalists rather than specialists?
Joan
Grade 12
New York

A.

Hi Joan,

Your observation about the way reporters move around is insightful. You're right, most journalists are generalists. That's one of the most interesting parts of the job, that you can learn about many different things and tell readers about aspects of various fields that you find interesting. And if things work out well, readers will share your interests and enthusiasm.

But there are also people here at The Times and at other newspapers and magazines who are specialists and who cover the same area for many years. For example, we have a medical writer who is himself a doctor and who still practices medicine, though only part-time. We also have a few reporters who are lawyers and who write about legal affairs or cover the courts. And business reporters who earned MBA's, or Masters of Business Administration.

The nice thing is that sometimes someone who does not have previous training in a field kind-of learns on the job and becomes a specialist. For example, I have a colleague here who has been writing about higher education for nearly a decade, but has no formal training.

And sometimes specialists decide they are getting tired of the area they cover and they can switch to something in which they have no previous training. I know a reporter, for instance, who majored in physics and who covered science for a long time. Eventually, though, he became a political reporter with me in City Hall and then one day he became a foreign correspondent in Japan.

So there is a lot of flexibility and opportunity. The main thing is that someone needs to have a lot of curiosity and a good writing style to became a reporter. I hope you will think about becoming one some day; it's a lot of fun.

Alan

Q.

3/20/06

In your of experience, what do you find the to be the most effective club or activity I can join that will teach me the valuable skills that I can use in a journalism career?
Alec
Grade 10
Missouri

A.

The best way to become a good writer and reporter, Alec, is to get experience writing and reporting. No one is born knowing how to do these things; everyone learns by doing it, including by making errors and learning from them.

I wrote about sports in my high school newspaper and, if I remember correctly (it was a long, long time ago), I became the sports editor and wrote a sports column when I was a senior. I really enjoyed it, although when I looked not too long ago at some of the things I wrote at the time, I realized that I still had a lot to learn then.

Does your high school have a student newspaper? If it does, I would encourage you to try working for it. You will find out if you like reporting and also whether it is something that you have some talent for. I get asked quite often by college students who are interested in journalism what they should do to develop skills, and I always give them the same advice I'm suggesting to you. I'm always amazed how often a college student will tell me that he or she is interested in journalism but has not worked on the student paper. This kind of experience can be invaluable.

You might also want to see if a weekly paper in your town would be willing to let you write articles for it, maybe during the summer as an intern or even occasionally during the school year. The more writing you do, the better writer you will become.

Good luck, Alec!

Alan

Q.

3/20/06

How do you become a great writer? I always am getting bad grades on my writings, but I want good grades.
Alexandra
Grade 6
Washington

A.

Hi Alexandra,

There are lots of different answers to your question, but I think one of the best ways to learn how to write well is to read writers who are very, very good at what they do. If you read novels and nonfiction books by people who write well, you begin to see how they craft their sentences and paragraphs, how they build suspense or interest and how they make reading a joyful experience. I don't understand quite how it happens, but often you start borrowing words and phrases and even rhythms from talented writers whose books or articles you've read. Before you know it, you can become a writer, too.

You also might want to think about asking your teacher to go over a writing assignment with you after it has been graded. Ask him to make suggestions on what you could have done better, how you might have better structured your writing or how you could have written more clearly. This might make it more likely that you can do it better the next time. Don't be afraid to ask for help. We do it here at the newspaper all the time.

Alan