NAA Foundation study finds link between newspaper use in classroom, young adult readership

Study of 18-to-34-year-olds also finds use of newspapers in school leads to greater interest in politics, current events

  Vienna, Va. -- Young adults who remember using the newspaper in school are more likely to develop lifelong readership habits than those who say they had no exposure to newspapers in school, according to a study of 1,500 18-to-34-year-olds released today by the Newspaper Association of America Foundation.

  According to the study, 62 percent of young adults who had a class where newspapers were distributed and used as part of the curriculum say they read a weekday newspaper regularly. Of those with no exposure to newspapers in school, only 38 percent say they are regular newspaper readers today.

  "This new study proves that when newspapers are an integral part of the education process, there is a lifelong impact in encouraging readership and literacy," said Margaret Vassilikos, senior vice president of the NAA Foundation. "It is critical that students of all ages and demographics have access to newspapers in the classroom."

  The study, "Growing Lifelong Readers," is part of the NAA Foundation's continuing efforts to document how using newspapers in school can foster literacy and readership in children and help develop lifelong reading habits. "Growing Lifelong Readers" is the first comprehensive exploration of the impact of newspapers in the classroom, and, importantly, results were weighted to reflect the national population of young adults, while controlling for parental education, wealth and involvement.

  Newspapers are used widely in schools today, both on a formal basis as part of social studies, reading, math or other class curriculum, or on an informal basis, whereby newspaper articles are discussed during lessons, according to the NAA Foundation study. Among those who attended high school, more than two-thirds (68 percent) of those surveyed say they had some type of exposure to newspapers in school.

  Additional findings:

• Newspaper exposure is associated with a greater interest in news and politics.

  Of those with high exposure to newspapers in class:

• 51 percent say they are extremely or very interested in the situation in Iraq (vs. 44 percent of those with low exposure).

• 40 percent say they are extremely or very interested in the presidential election (vs. 36 percent of those with low exposure)

• 26 percent say they are extremely or very interested in politics (vs. 21 percent with low exposure)

• 24 percent say they are extremely or very interested in local government (vs. 14 percent).

• 51 percent of those with high exposure say they almost always/regularly vote.

•  75 percent of young adults who used newspapers in school said they were a welcome change and 92 percent recall positive experiences using newspapers in school.

• Those exposed to newspapers during school have a stronger preference for newspapers as a source for local advertising. Of those with high exposure to newspapers, 54 percent prefer newspapers as their source for local ads, compared to 44 percent of those with low exposure, followed by television (24 percent), radio (11 percent) and internet (8 percent).

  Methodology: "Growing Lifelong Readers" is based on research conducted for the NAA Foundation by Clark, Martire & Bartolomeo, Inc. The data was gathered in a nationally represented survey of 1,500 men and women between the ages of 18 and 34. Interviews were conducted between June 17-July 2, 2004. The sampling error for totals is approximately +/-2.5%. Results were weighted to reflect sex, age, race and region of the more than 67 million young adults in the United States.

  The Newspaper Association of America Foundation is the educational and charitable arm of NAA. Founded in 1961, the Foundation was established to advance informed and intelligent media use by all citizens, especially young people, and to encourage them to value their right to a free and unfettered press. The NAA Foundation is dedicated to developing tomorrow's readers by encouraging them to acquire and value information from newspapers and other media.

  NAA is a nonprofit organization representing the $55 billion newspaper industry and more than 2,000 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. Most NAA members are daily newspapers, accounting for 87 percent of the U.S. daily circulation. Headquartered in Tysons Corner (Vienna, Va.), the Association focuses on six key strategic priorities that affect the newspaper industry collectively: marketing, public policy, diversity, industry development, newspaper operations and readership. Information about NAA and the industry also may be found at www.naa.org.