depemds on the shpi you have.. fighters have to be fast and can move in closer to screw with cruiser turret tracking rates but cruisers are slugs with firepower and would probably perfer longer range fighting.. frigates/fighters tend to get chewed up and spit out quicker though since they have less than half the shields, hull and structure of the cruisers, not to mention cruisers have alot more expansion slots for fancy hardware.
in my frigate i'd stick at 25km out with my 150mm small rail turrets and tungsten slugs (+40% range boost) and send in my drones for the close combat. works well but I then have to fly 25km to go pick up my loot.