All editorial and design decisions regarding The Bucknellian are made by the student staff; the adviser provides counsel, direction and criticism on matters of good journalistic practices and on managerial and fiscal practices. He helps train students to write in a journalistic style by providing workshops and by evaluating each issue of The Bucknellian after publication. He meets regularly with the editorial staff to talk about any issues of concern regarding the paper. The adviser does not see the newspaper before it appears in the newsstands. The adviser also gives advice on journalistic ethics and about First Amendment issues and is an advocate for the students’ rights of free expression, while also emphasizing the responsibilities implicit in that freedom.
James Lee has been adviser to The Bucknellian since August of 1997. In addition to advising, he teaches two journalism courses at Bucknell as well as an occasional non-fiction course and foundation seminar. Prior to that he worked for many years at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA, lecturing in journalism, composition and non-fiction. He also has been a freelance writer with pieces appearing in many publications, including Travel-Holiday, The Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, British Heritage and the Chronicle of Higher Education. He has completed a non-fiction book-length manuscript on the world’s first women’s soccer team in 1895 and currently is working on a manuscript about the evacuation of civilians from Hawaii after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He is a member of College Media Advisers and in his capacity as Bucknellian adviser adheres to the CMA code of ethics.