In a two-wave mall survey, 1 675 daily newspaper managing editors or their equivalents and 381 members of the AEJ Newspaper Division were asked what they considered the criteria for quality in a daily newspaper. Based on the authors' expectations, hypotheses falling into four general categories were posited: hypotheses relating to content, papers' characteristics, appearance and resources. The authors found that editors emphasized criteria related to day-to-day performances that are subject to internal institutional control. Educators emphasized a more external, non-institutionalized approach. The authors were especially surprised and concerned about what they saw as a comparative lack of emphasis on writing and editing as a hallmark of excellence. Proffessors Samuel V. Kennedy III and John D. Mitchell are connected to the Newhouse School of Journalism at Syracuse University. This paper was delivered at the open session of the Association for Education in Journalism's annual convention, at Michigan State University in August 1981.