Penn State University's president promotes newspapers to students

Newspaper Research Journal, Summer 1999 by Hartman, John K

In 1996 a Yankelovich Partners researcher found that about 40 percent of 16-29s read a daily newspaper "occasionally or regularly," while about 25 percent never read a newspaper.20 Charles D'Oyly of Yankelovich Partners put it succinctly: "...Generation X reads newspapers to a lesser degree than any other generation."21

Method tested in three dorms Beginning in January, 1997, free copies of the New York Times and the Centre Daily Times were delivered to 550 rooms occupied by 940 students in three dormitories at Penn State's University Park campus. Students also could pick up free copies of the Daily Collegian at drop points in their dorms and elsewhere across campus. Questionnaires were prepared under the direction of Betty L. Moore of the Research and Assessment office of Student Affairs, and administered to the 940 students in January 1997, when the first issues of newspapers were delivered, and again in April 1997, during the last week of classes.

A control group was created and surveyed in two other dormitories. The number of students who responded was 406 in January and 533 in April. Additional data were gained from individual interviews, discussions with small focus groups and responses to open-ended questions on the second survey. The final survey found that newspapers were cited by 82 percent as a means of learning the news, followed by television, 72 percent; magazines, 58 percent; radio, 46 percent and online, 29 percent. Eighty percent said they would rather have a printed copy of a newspaper compared to 20 percent who preferred online.22

The experimental group spent more time reading the two daily newspapers and less time with the campus newspaper over 15 weeks. Centre Daily Times readership rose from 3 percent to 31 percent, the New York Times readership rose from 8 percent to 27 percent, and the Daily Collegian readership fell from 69 percent to 60 percent. The control group's readership was 8 percent, 6 percent and 62 percent, respectively. Other papers read by members of the experimental group in April,1997, were: Philadelphia Inquirer, USA Today and Wall Street Journal, 3 percent each; Washington Post, 2 percent; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Christian Science Monitor, 1 percent each.23

In the April survey, students in the control and experimental groups, respectively, gave the following reasons for not reading a newspaper: lack of time, 65 percent for control group and 78 percent for the experimental group; cost, 49 percent and 40 percent; don't like to read, 22 and 10; get news elsewhere, 45 and 33; too much advertising,28 and 12; don't like editorial stance, 35 and 10; reports have hidden agenda, 34 and 15; not in habit of reading newspapers, 43 and 36; don't believe information printed, 22 and 8; not interested, 38 and 23; newspapers not read at home, 22 and 11.

Thirty-five percent of the students said that "reading a newspaper this semester had contributed to their classroom learning," while 46 percent said "newspaper readership had contributed to their overall general education at Penn State." Students from the control group were more likely to agree with the latter statement. Moore concluded, "It is apparent that making newspapers easily accessible increases readership among college students. The relationship between newspaper readership and impact on educational outcomes is generally positive, but requires more study.24