Kat,

Writing is personal. The only absolute is communication.   You can have bad grammar, run-on sentences and all kinds of faux-pas but if you read what passes for journalism today, you find that the techniques and rules are somewhat irrelevant.

As a writer, I wouldn't try to write like anyone else. I wouldn't even bother to read about the lives of great writers because they are in and out of vogue like pop songs.

As a writer, you look for the nugget that you want to express and pare it down until you get there.

I guess if you want to get a job with a particular mag or paper, you gotta' know something about their writing style. But there is a danger here. It could emerge phony by conformity.

As an editor, you have to see what works for the medium.

If you read something, and it's communicating, it jumps out at you from the paper.

If you are an editor, you will look for what will sell your mag or paper.

Editing is re-writing without re-writing the intention or the style of the writer.

Analogy, directing or producing a musical artist.

Frank