You are on page 1of 15

The Newspaper as a Learning Tool: A Brief Look at the Past, Present, Future, and Results by Holly Thompson Newspapers

have a long history of being regarded as a useful educational tool, and their use in a classroom setting dates back further than most might expect. Take, for instance, this quotation: "Much has been said and written on the utility of newspapers; but one principal advantage which might be derived from these publication has been neglected; we mean that of reading them in schools, and by the children in familiesnewspapers are plenty and cheap the cheapest book that can be bought, and the more you buy the better for your children, because every part furnishes some new and valuable information! (Cowen 1)" Although this statement reads like an educator or newspaper publisher of today might have said it, it comes from an article printed in the EasternHerald, June 8, 1795, in the state of Massachusetts. Exemplifying the fact that newspapers have long been viewed as informational tools, this statement also speaks to the tenure of newspapers as an institution. Actual recorded uses of newspapers in the classroom are dated in the 1890s, and in 1911, "The Volume Library" gave great attention to the value of teaching with newspapers. There are many events throughout the twentieth century that also helped develop the prevalent use of newspapers we see in classrooms today. The outbreak of World War II lead to a greater number of students reading the newspaper, both for informational and instructional purposes. In 1929, Richard S. Kimball published a book titled Current Events Instruction. This book was widely accepted by educators of the time, and because it contained suggestions for incorporating current events in the classroom, also became used extensively. Part of Kimballs instruction for students becoming strong citizens was reading the newspaper. In 1939, Luvella and Alfred Reschke wrote The Newspaper in the Classroom, which contained specific lesson plans incorporating the newspaper as an instructional and enrichment tool. The idea behind this book stemmed from a contest named "How to Use the Newspaper in the Classroom," in the MilwaukeeJournal. Successful teaching methods contributed by teachers made up the majority of the book, and as a result, the book became popular among teachers. C. Ken Jefferson, a circulation manager at the Des Moines Tribune and Register has been nicknamed the "father" of the Newspaper in the Classroom Program. He was interested in the "effect of newspaper route work on a boys grades and activities both in and out of school" (Cowen 9). When outside reading levels for delivery boys and non-working children both came back as poor or non-existent, Jefferson became interested in helping to incorporate newspapers into school reading programs. After many phone calls, meetings, studies in classrooms throughout the U.S., and recommendations from the Youth Reading Study Committee, the Newspaper in the Classroom Program was born in 1957, sponsored by the International Circulation Managers Association (ICMA) and coordinated by Dr. Merrill F. Hartshorn, the executive secretary of the National Council for the Social Studies. Workshops educating teachers about the use of the daily newspaper in the classroom began in 1958 at various colleges for in-service teachers. Results were highly successful with 98 percent of those teachers attending the workshops in 1958 saying they would incorporate newspapers in their classrooms the following year.

Due to the interest and success of these workshops, the American Newspaper Publishers Association (ANPA) formed a foundation to support the Newspaper in the Classroom Program. Funding from the ANPA Foundation supported the administrative costs of running the Newspaper in the Classroom Program and also gave teachers grants to participate in the workshops. The ANPA Foundation was chartered in 1961 and listed its goals as threefold: "1. Develop informed and intelligent newspaper readers; 2. Develop and strengthen public understanding of the press and of freedom of speech and press; 3. Advance the professionalism of the press" (Cowen 15). In order to achieve these goals, the ANPA formed the ANPA Foundation to serve "as a nationwide coordinating agency for the cooperative effort of daily newspapers and schools in the United States and Canada to use newspapers as a tool of instruction" (Cowen 15). The program was introduced to teachers as the Newspapers In Education (NIE) program designed "to improve the study and use of newspapers in the classrooms of elementary and secondary schools of the United States of America" (ANPAF 3). Since the conception of the NIE program in 1961, its participation and success has increased on a yearly basis. On behalf of the program, the ANPA has developed into a clearinghouse for ideas and information about the educational uses of newspapers. Teachers are taught how to incorporate newspapers into their daily instructional lessons as supplemental material. Many studies have been conducted in various areas of newspaper use by the ANPA through the NIE program. Although the findings of every study are too numerous to list here, one study in Washington DC reported that after using newspaper clippings and magazine articles in regular instruction at one school, "two-thirds of the students raised their reading levels more than one year, ten gained two years, and two children gained more than three years" (Cowen 24). Most studies conducted by the ANPA and NIE program reported that the majority of students who experienced regular contact with newspapers in a classroom setting showed marked improvement in reading and comprehension scores, verbal participation in class, and awareness and knowledge of how to read a newspaper. In 1991, estimates showed that approximately 3,000,000 students, 90,000 teachers, and 16,000 schools were participating in the NIE program. By 1997, nearly half of daily newspapers were taking part in the NIE program. This number represents over 90 percent of newspaper circulation. There was a big increase in interest and participation on behalf of the newspaper industry because of the literacy campaigns of the 1980s and also a realization of the low interest of young people in reading newspapers. This generation that was now reaching young adult status had grown up under the influence of television and broadcast news. So newspapers, threatened with lack of interest and the ever-encroaching ease of the Internet, decided to increase participation in NIE to produce two main results: an increase in literacy and reading skills and interest and familiarity with a newspaper. Teachers have been interested in applying newspapers in the classroom for years, even before the formal birth of the NIE in 1961. Real-life applications are a good answer to the age-old question asked by many students: "When am I ever going to use this?" After participating in the NIE program, Lori Egloff, a sixth-grade student remarked, "I like using newspapers in school because we dont just have to read out of school books. We can see what happens in real life. When we use the newspaper in science we can cut out pictures, look at graphs and read how things that we study help or harm the world" (NIE 1-2). Teachers of all grades hope for this kind of response, and the newspaper industry is glad to hear it as well. Although the efforts

of the newspaper industry do not produce immediate results in circulation increases, the influence this program has on young adults may have an impact on the circulation numbers in the future. Immediate results are seen in increased literacy and higher reading levels, especially among minority youth. Newspapers seem to have established a place for themselves in education. From the kindergarten newspaper hats to the supplemental application of newspapers in high school, the real-life educational quality they give students is helpful for students, teachers, and the newspaper industry. Those looking into the future of newspapers in education are talking of combining newspapers along with other media to help the students of today improve reading and writing skills and gain knowledge of current events. Generations today spend a great amount of time viewing television, and a combination of media could boost students interest in learning and continue to improve reading skills. Educators such as Barbara Shapely want to incorporate all media into school curriculums and teach students how to critically interpret the messages that the media is sending out. She favors an integrated systematic approach in using mass media, and is quick to point out that the "United States is one of the few countries in the world where media literacy is not integrated in the school curriculum" (Shipley 4). There is always a push in education to increase the reading and comprehension scores of students. The importance of education is increasingly evident to parents as well as students. NIE research shows that newspapers are a helpful tool in every childs education. Whether they advance a childs reading level, inform students about current events, or allow teachers to give a real-life application, newspapers are a critical tool in our educational classrooms. From C. Ken Jeffersons interest in the education of his newspaper route boys to the integration of all media in the classroom today, newspapers have established their important role in the classrooms of the past, present, and future. Works Cited Aiex, Nola Kortner. "Using Newspapers as Effective Teaching Tools." Office of Educational Research and Improvement. ERIC Digest, Indiana. 1988. American Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation. The Daily Newspaper in the School Curriculum: A Manual for Teachers and Newspapermen on the Use of Newspapers in the Classroom. New York: American Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation, 1967. Brody, Jeffrey H. and Robert G. Picard. The Newspaper Publishing Industry. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. Cowen, Marlene Stone. "History of the Newspaper in Education Program." American Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation. ERIC Digest, Washington DC. 1978. DeRoche, Edward F. The Newspaper: A Reference Book for Teachers and Librarians. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO Inc., 1991. Newspapers In Education. Partnerships in Education, The Buffalo News. 13 Nov. 1998. <http://nie.buffnet.net/>. Shipley, Barbara. "Integrating Mass Media Instruction: Connecting NIE and TV Programs for the 21st Century." Annual Conference on Newspapers in Education and Literacy. ERIC Digest, Florida. 15-17 May 1991. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RESEARCH PAPERS: "IMPACT ON STUDENTS' NEWSPAPER READERSHIP AFTER THE PROLIFERATION OF TV NEWS CHANNELS" Researchers: AQEEL AHMED RAJPAR SHAIKH KAMRAN SALIM SYED WAJEEH-UL-HASSAN ABSTRACT Newspapers have always been a source of information and news for all the ages. However, with the proliferation of TV News Channels, students' choice of getting news and information has changed. The new media has expanded the horizons for news and information gatherers, but the focus of this study remains newspapers and TV. It has also become an academic debate that students do not read newspapers and prefer other sources for news and information. This survey is designed to find out how many students read newspaper and watch TV. As newspapers carry vital informations that are not available on TV, therefore we will also find out what is the students' preference of getting news details; Newspapers or TV. In this study we will also try to find out the impact of these TV news channels on Newspaper readership. INTRODUCTION Pakistan has seen a rapid growth in electronic media in the last decade. Old stalwarts in the field of journalism coupled by a complete new breed of media enthusiasts, Satellite TV channels have proliferated magnanimously. Pakistan's successive governments have also encouraged the freedom of information. In modern times press is one of the most important features of civil liberties. [1] This has seen a number of new TV News Channels on the scene, most of them are Urdu and some English and other languages. Since last decade, the availability of news via 24-hour television channels and then the Internet posed an ongoing challenge to most newspapers in developed countries. Paid circulation has seen a downward trend, while advertising revenue which makes up the bulk of most newspapers income has been shifting from print to the new media, resulting in a general decline in profits. Newspaper publishers now a days emphasise mainly on how to sell as many copies as possible. [2] Many newspapers around the world launched online editions to stay in the competition and to cater to their virtual audience. Most of the recognized Pakistani English dailies like, Dawn, The News, Daily Times and Business Recorder have online editions. However, in other parts of the world some publishers find their print-based models increasingly unsustainable. Therefore Web-based "newspapers" have also started to appear, such as the Southport Reporter in the UK and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in US, which stopped publishing in print after 149 years in March 2009 and went online only. Newspaper readership is on continuous decline. Although online availability of newspapers has improved the readership of newspaper, but the print form of newspaper has seen a significant decline. Mark Choate in an article on his blog wrote, "Newspaper circulation is in decline, but if you combine readership between the print and online version of a newspaper you'll find that net readership has increased. Despite this, there is a widespread perception that the decline in print newspaper circulation represents a shrinking market for local news." [3]

Newspapers emphasize more on the editorial contents and are presented in a detail version of the news story. Whereas, TV news channels having a time constraints and therefore they prefer condensed version of news story. Newspapers were the most preferred medium over radio and TV for disseminating and gathering news in the early twentieth century. During 60's and 70's television became popular. [4] However, with the advances in technology the trend has changed and TV has become the dominant media in bringing breaking news stories to people in their own homes instantly. Newspapers reports are formal and they adopt a standardized language while TV news reports are less formal. Newspapers cover routine issues like city court, municipal matters and other district news in detail while TV news doesn't usually cover these issues unless something unusual or controversial is taking place. However, TV has the ability to "Breaking News", something like early morning restoration of Chief Justice of Pakistan on 16th March, 2009, while a newspaper reader had to wait until the next day to read about the news. A newspaper usually reports the story in more detail while TV news hardly gives any details due to time constraints. Also newspapers do more follow up of the news story as a subject evolves over time, such as the court proceedings, local issues, while TV news would only focus when the news is fresh. Newspapers also tend to give more background of the story and inform the audience in detail. TV news is quick and doest not last long compared to newspapers that have longer life. This tendency of getting the news or information as and when happens is popular among the younger generation. Therefore, choosing TV as the medium is obvious. However, details are only available in newspapers which provides in depth reports and background of the story to enrich readers. Information may come quick on TV but it vanishes out of mind more quickly. A newspaper remains a handy source. The advertisements in newspapers play a key role. More than three fourth of the newspapers' expenditures are met through advertisements. A newspaper not only advertises glamorous products but also publishes advertisements that are useful for students and their parents, such as university admissions, jobs, special incentives from government and others. Whereas, TV commercials have a total different dimension. They are fleshy, expensive and glamorous. Due to the expensive air time, TV ads are mostly of commercial nature. Informations in these ads are limited and are targeted to general people. Also, TV ads are supplemented by print media, which is evident from so many ads where a manufacturer or service provider refers to newspaper for details. Due to the very nature of being expansive and general, TV ads do not cater specifically to students. However, newspapers also publish advertorials that is useful for the students such as, educational policies, admission procedures, scholarship details and others. Therefore, newspaper reading habit among students should be developed to keep them informed from different activities relating to their interests.

Newspapers offer a variety of subscription plans. For example, some readers prefer only a Sunday paper, or maybe only a workweek subscription, or perhaps a daily subscription. However, newspapers also offer some or all of their content on the Internet, either at no cost or for a fee not in the case of Pakistan where online newspapers are free only. In some cases, free access is available only for a matter of days or weeks, after which readers must register and provide personal data. In other cases, free archives are provided. With the proliferation of TV news channels and growing number of TV sets ownership, newspaper readership among students has become an academic debate. TV exposure is far too high. Since 2001, when the first Pakistani Cable and Satellite Channel went on air, the number of TV channels has grown to 93 along with 28 foreign satellite television channels granted landing rights permission by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA). Our area of research is focused on the impact of these TV channels on the Newspaper readership. We have chosen the students to conduct our study. The students of this era have wide range of medium to gather information or news. Several surveys in the developed countries indicate that students have started to loose interest in newspaper reading. Through this survey we will try to find out how many students read newspapers and watch TV news channels? Our survey is also designed to find out if students read newspapers or watch TV news channels to get details of news? And, has the proliferation of TV channels affected the newspaper readership among students? Although there are number of entertainment, sports, fashion, music and Islamic channels among others, but our area of study remains the TV News Channels. Therefore, wherever we use the term TV Channels or Channels or simply TV that must be taken as TV News Channels. We have chosen 75 male and 75 female students. Because our study is directed towards the students from masses, therefore we have preferred public university over private. Karachi University is our focused institution and we have tried to cover almost all the departments to make the study more comprehensive. DEFINITIONS Newspaper Newspaper is usually issued daily, weekly, or at other regular time that provides news, views, features, and other information of public interest and often carries advertising. More or less regular papers printed from movable type appeared in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands in the early 17th century. [5]

Newspaper is a daily or weekly publication on folded sheets; contains news and articles and advertisements. The physical object that is the product of a newspaper publisher; a cheap paper made from wood pulp and used for printing newspapers. [6] News News is the information about recent and important events. News is the communication of information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience. [7] Reader Rreader is one that reads, who publicly recites literary works. A reader is a person employed by a publisher to read and evaluate manuscripts. [8] Viewer Viewer is someone that views some spectacle; an onlooker or spectator; Someone who watches television; Any optical device used to view photographic slides; A program that displays the contents of a file of digital images; an image viewer or file viewer. [9] Television Television (TV) is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic ("black and white") or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission. The word is derived from mixed Latin and Greek roots, meaning far sight". [10] LITERATURE REVIEW: According to Newspaper Readership Survey (NRS) 2006 by Aftab Associates Pvt. Ltd. (AAL) TV has the highest exposure across all media followed by newspaper and then radio. The overall incidence of newspaper readership is 54 per cent of which 35.4 per cent are frequent readers while 18.6 per cent are occasional readers. Interestingly, the survey shows that newspaper readership in cities is higher. The readership is higher in Karachi followed by Rawalpindi Islamabad and then Lahore. However, according to a similar study NRS-2007 conducted by MEMRB, a private research organization, the incidence of readership dropped down to 39.2 per cent. This is significantly lower then the study by ALL. However the results of NRS-2007 shows that readership in Karachi dropped to 36 per cent with Lahore taking the lead at 54 per cent. Newspaper readership is higher in males as compare to females. [11] The survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for the people and the press, (PRCPP) 2006, more people turned to TV for news and use it for a longer period of time. According to the survey average number of minutes per user for TV is 53 as compare to 40 for newspaper. Despite the new, vast and easy news sources these days, 40 per cent of Americans under the age of 30 watched a movie at home on video, DVD, or pay per view a day

before, says the report. This is far more than newspaper reader i.e. 24 per cent. This indicates newspaper readership is on decline among the age group under 30. [12] Trends in media consumption of individuals have changed with the proliferation of new media. Internet access, TV channels and now mobile phones have given consumers a wide choice of media to gather news and informations from. With so much of choice for news gathering, priorities differ among younger generation or more precisely students. 2009 survey on youth readership in India, conducted by National Book Trust (NBT), shows that TV is the most exposed medium to youth, with average time spent a day at over 97 minutes. Radio (61 minutes), magazines (44 minutes) and newspapers (32 minutes) lag far behind. According to the surveywith a sample of over 311,431 literate youth (102,021 rural and 209,410 urban) covering 432 villages in 207 districts as rural and 753 urban blocks in 199 towns as urban Indias youth population grew at over 2% to 459 million in 2009 from 390 million in the 2001 census, while the literate youth population grew at a more rapid 2.5% to 333 million from 273 million. Growth was faster in urban India (3.15% a year) than in rural India (2.11%) 77% of the 333 million literate, or 259 million, youth are exposed to TV. However, newspapers too are able to maintain their dominance, with over half (53%) of all literate youth, or 177 million, exposed to them. [13] In the Pew Research Center's 2008 news media consumption survey, 39% said they read a newspaper yesterday - either print or online - down from 43% in 2006. The proportion reporting that they read just the print version of a newspaper fell by roughly a quarter, from 34% to 25% over the two-year period. Overall newspaper readership declined in spite of an increase in the number of people reading online newspapers: 14% of Americans said they read a newspaper online yesterday, up from 9% in 2006. This includes those who said they read only a newspaper online (9% in 2008), as well as those who said they read both print and Web versions of a newspaper (5%). These numbers may not include the number of people who read content produced by newspapers, but accessed through aggregation sites or portals such as Google or Yahoo. [14] Wilson and Brenda in a research title, "Factors that predict newspaper reading habit in college students", says that, "Overall newspaper readership in the United States has been steadily declining in the past 30 or more years. Robinson (1990) states that the decline in newspaper reading stands in marked contrast to an overall increase in free time and to the increase in the publics overall use of mass media. College students are part of the elusive 18- to 34-year-old demographic segment that is the least likely to read a daily newspaper and that newspaper publishers have sought for years to attract. Often electronic media are blamed for the decrease in print use. However, Schlagheck (1998) asserts that long before any competition from cable or Nintendo, American newspaper publishers were worrying about declining readership among the young , . . . [and] the age at which young people

form attachments with newspapers appears to be moving upward (p. 74-75)". [15] Penn State Student Newspaper Readership Program was established by President Graham B. Spanier in 1997. The program offers students the USA Today, the New York Times, and a local/regional newspaper. At University Park, the Centre Daily Times and The Daily Collegian are available. All newspapers are provided at no additional cost to students. "In 2005, Penn State partnered with Educational Benchmarking, Inc. to pilot a national study on newspaper readership. The data overwhelmingly support the relationship between newspaper readership and developing cognitive skills; increasing one's awareness, understanding, and ability to articulate views on current issues; and developing civic-mindedness. In addition, there is a strong relationship between newspaper readership and student engagement both on campus and in the community. Furthermore, the evidence suggests that utilizing the newspaper in the classroom promotes newspaper readership and further extends the learning outcomes articulated in the survey. With students' reporting that the Student Newspaper Readership Program increases their readership and their high levels of satisfaction with the program, the findings of this survey firmly support the educational value of providing a newspaper readership program on college campuses." [16] METHODOLOGY: It is essential to apply the right methodology to make a research successful. After going through several research papers of the same nature, it became very convenient for us to decide for the methodology for our research. Most of the researchers have adopted the survey methodology for these kinds of researches. A comprehensive result can be achieved through a survey. Although, conducting surveys are not an easy task, but the results are instant and easy to analyze. Target audiences are given a multiple choice questions which makes it easier for them to choose from. Surveys can give you a lot of data and it will assure you that you have a verifiable resources. It provides you direct knowledge of peoples opinions and it can give you good data for your analysis. Definitely the most important aspect in the process of survey is the designing of questions that should measure the opinions, experiences and behaviors of the public. Ambiguous and confusing or for that matter bias questions simply distracts the audience. Adopting careful measures in designing a questionnaire gives a fair chance in achieving the results. Procedure in designing a questionnaire requires a thorough literature review and is evolved after many deliberations. A questionnaire was designed for the students to fill in. The objective of the research was to find out if students are more into reading newspaper or watching TV and which medium do they choose to get news details? Therefore when creating questionnaire we also placed question that can also find out the frequency at which students use these medium and which language they prefer. In this survey we also tried to find out the affect of TV news channels on newspaper readership.

Twelve questions were included in the questionnaire. Students were asked to respond on newspaper readership and TV viewership. Questions were also asked on the frequency of readership and viewership along with the language they prefer. We also asked students about their preference of news consumption or simply where they prefer getting news details from. After consultation with our advisor, Dr. Shamsuddin, we had chosen 75 male and 75 female students. Because our study was directed towards the students from masses, therefore we preferred public university over private. Karachi University was our focused institution and we have tried to cover almost all the departments to make the study more comprehensive. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS The questionnaire for the survey was carefully created to achieve best possible results. To analyze how many male and female students read newspaper or watch TV, we stratified the readers and viewers into two categories. Those students who opted for 'Yes' as readers and viewers we categorized them as 'Regular'. While those who opted for 'Very Often' or 'Sometimes' are called as 'Occasional' readers or viewers. Also, wherever the term 'Reader(s)' or 'Viewer(s)' appears in this paper, it is understood that it means both the 'Regular' and 'Occasional' readers and viewers. The sampling size of this research is 150 students from Karachi University. Total numbers of students are equally divided among both the genders. 75 male and equal numbers of females consists of our total population. Data collected during the survey shows that 74.66% males are Newspaper 'Readers'. Whereas, 25.33% male students responded that they do not read newspapers. (See Table: 1) Newspaper readership trend in female students is slightly lower. According to data collected, 80% of females are Newspaper 'Readers'. 20% of female students never read newspapers. (See Table: 1) Therefore, when we combine the results of both male and female the numbers of students are 116 out of 150 which makes 77.33% Newspaper Readers. Therefore, out of the population of 150 students 37.33% are male readers whereas 40% are female readers. (See Table: 2) Data shows that 72% of male students are TV 'Viewers'. And 28% male students replied they do not watch TV at all. (See Table: 3) Females, according to data, are more into watching TV news channels with 93.33% of females are TV 'Viewers'. Whereas only 6.66% never watches TV. (See Table: 3) On combining the results of both male and female we can see that out of 150 students 82.66% are TV Viewers. Out of total population, 36% 'Viewers' are male whereas 46.66% are female. (See Table: 4)

With the above results we can see that TV viewing is higher than newspaper readership. The result authenticates our research where we tried to find out how many students read newspaper or watch TV news channels. (See Table: 5) It is also been observed that female students are more exposed to TV with 93.33% of them are 'Viewers' as compared to 72% male 'Viewers'. Similarly, females also read more newspaper than their opposite sex. 80% of female students read newspaper as compared to 74.66% male 'Readers'. TV viewership is higher among female students and the data also shows more male students do not watch TV as compared to those who never read newspaper. To make our research more comprehensive we ask our population that from which medium they prefer getting details of news? We found that 34.66% males get details of news from newspaper, 28% get details from TV news channels and 34.66% prefer getting details from both mediums, while only 2.66% male students do not want details of news from any medium. (See Table: 6) The data of female population shows that only 8% females get details of news from newspaper, whereas 21.33% from TV news channels. However, 68% females prefer getting news details from both medium. Only 2.66% females do not want news details from any medium. (See Table: 6) The above statistics show that male students rely on newspapers for details significantly higher than female students. It is also noticeable that the number of female students who uses both medium for getting news details is higher than male students. The amount of time students, both male and female, spent in newspaper reading was also obtained during the survey. Out of 56 male student 'Readers', only seven male students, which makes it 12.5% of the total population, read newspaper for more than an hour. However, 46.42% spends half an hour or less and 41.07% reads newspaper for an hour or less. (See Table: 7) In females out of 60 'Readers', 45% read newspaper for half an hour or less. While 40% read newspaper for an hour or less and 15% read newspaper for more than an hour. (See Table: 7) As for watching TV, the data shows that 57.40% male students spend less than an hour in watching TV news channel, while 42.59% spend more than an hour in watching TV news. (See Table: 8) Female population is more exposed to TV with 64.28% students spend less than an hour and 35.71% spend more than an hour in watching TV news. (See Table: 8) Our questionnaire also addressed to find out the frequency of readership among students. The data shows that 71.42% male students are daily 'Readers'. Whereas

those who read newspaper several days a week and once a week stand equally at 5.35%. Furthermore, 17.85% males only read newspaper whenever they get a chance. (See Table: 9) 51.66% females read newspaper daily, which is lower than male students. 11.66% female 'Readers' read several days a week; while 8.33% read newspaper once a week and 28.33% read newspaper whenever they get a chance. (See Table: 9) 64.81% males watch TV news daily whereas 5.55% watch TV news several days a week. Only 3.70% watch TV news once a week which is lower as compare to newspaper readership. 25.92% male students watch TV news whenever they get a chance. (See Table: 10) Females are more into watching TV than reading newspaper. The data shows that 62.85% females watch TV news daily and 5.71% watch TV news several days a week. While 5.71% females watch TV news once a week and 25.71% watch TV news whenever they get a chance. (See Table: 10) Our data also shows that 55.35% of male student 'Readers' read Urdu dailies, while 28.57% read English dailies and 16.07% prefer reading both language dailies. (See Table: 11) In females, 36.66% are Urdu daily, 'Readers', whereas, 40% read English dailies and 23.33% prefer reading both language dailies. (See Table: 11) Similarly, we found that 62.96% males watch Urdu news channels, 12.96% watch English news channels and 24.07% males prefer watching both language news channels. (See Table: 12) Whereas, 58.57% female students watch Urdu news channels, 20% watch English news channels and 21.42% prefer both language news channels. (See Table: 12) CONCLUSION: The objective of the research was to find out how many of students read newspaper and watch TV. Also we wanted to know where the students prefer getting news details; Newspaper or TV. We can see from the data collected that out of total population (both males and females), 77.33% read newspaper, whereas 82.66% of the total population are TV 'Viewers'. The above results are self explanatory. Newspaper readership is lower than TV viewership. The trend of newspaper readership among students is also alarming. The data shows that 25.33% male students do not read newspaper at all as compared to 20% females. Overall 22.66% students are non 'Readers'. It is evident from the results that there is a decline in newspaper readership. After the proliferation of 24 hours TV news channels, students' preference of getting news details from TV, 24.66%, is higher than newspaper, i.e. 21.33%. However, a significant number of population, 51.33%, prefers using both medium for getting

news details. Newspaper readership programs should be designed in faculties to enhance readership. Research studies have shown that by implementing such programs, the readership among students has improved. Newspaper reading in classrooms should also be encouraged. By this way non readers will also adopt the readership habits. Newspapers are beyond the classroom tutors. They cater to all walks of life and carry information that no other medium does. References 1. See, Al-Sulami, 2003, 'The West and Islam', Routledge Curzon, London, p- 104. 2. Ibid, p-105 3. Article: "Newspaper Readership Decline" by Mark Choate. Available online: http://choate.info/2008/03/03/Isnewspaperreadershipindecline/ ,(Downloaded : June 8, 2010). 4. See, Curran and Seaton, 1991, 'Power without Responsibility', 4th edition, Routledge, London, p-229. 5. Definition of Newspaper, Available online: http://www.answers.com/topic/newspaper, (Downloaded: June 8, 2010). 6. Definition of Newspaper, Available online: http://www.google.com.pk/search? hl=en&defl=en&q=define:newspaper&sa=X&ei=lHE8TO_vGYTmsQOqtLzaCg&ved= 0CBMQkAE, (Downloaded: June 8, 2010). 7. Definition of News, Available online: http://www.google.com.pk/search? hl=en&q=define:news&btnG=Search&meta=, (Downloaded: June 8, 2010). 8. Definition of Reader, Available online: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/reader, (Downloaded: June 8, 2010). 9. Definition of Viewer, Available online: http://www.google.com.pk/search? hl=en&defl=en&q=define:viewer&sa=X&ei=pXY8TODwC5CWsgPb8P3ZCg&ved=0C BMQkAE, (Downloaded: June 8, 2010). 10. Definition of Television, Available online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television, (Downloaded: June 8, 2010). 11. Aftab Associates (Pvt) Ltd, "Newspaper Readership Survey (NRS) 2006 and MEMRB, (NRS) 2007. Available online: http://issuu.com/ibilu/docs/national_readership_survey, (Downloaded : June 8, 2010). 12. The Pew Research Centre for the People & the Press, "Online Papers Modestly Boost Newspaper Readership". Available online: http://peoplepress.org/report/282/online-papers-modestly-boost-newspaper-readership, (Downloaded: May 22, 2010). 13. National Book Trust (NBT) Survey 2009, undertaken by National Council of Applied Economic Research on behalf of National Book Trust, "National Youth Readership Survey", Available online: http://india.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2010/03/26/youth-readership-survey-india-sometrends/, (Downloaded: June 11, 2010). 14. The Pew Research Centre for the People & the Press, "Newspapers Face a Challenging Calculus: Online Growth, but Print Losses are Bigger". Available online: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1133/decline-print-newspapers-increased-online-news, (Downloaded: June 13, 2010)

15. Wilson & Brenda, "Factors that predict Newspaper reading habits in College Students". Available online: http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/0/2/9/0/pages202 904/p202904-3.php, (Downloaded: June 13, 2010). 16. Penn State University along with Educational Benchmarking Inc. in a pilot "national study on newspaper readership". Available online: http://www.sa.psu.edu/sara/newspapers.shtml. (Downloaded : June 13, 2010). Bibliography: Aftab Associates (Pvt) Ltd, "Newspaper Readership Survey (NRS) 2006 and MEMRB, (NRS) 2007. Available online: http://issuu.com/ibilu/docs/national_readership_survey, (Downloaded: June 8, 2010). Borden, Diane L. & Bowles Dorothy A. Creative Editing, third edition, Wadsworth Thomson Learning 1999. ISBN: 0-534-56178-0 Bush, Chilton R. The Art of News Communication. Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc, Library of Congress Card Number: 54-6210. Cartwright, Roger. Communication. Capstone Publishing, Magdalen Road Oxford OX4. ISBN: 1-84112-364-1. Choate, Mark. Newspaper Readership Decline (Article). Available online: http://choate.info/2008/03/03/Isnewspaperreadershipindecline/, (Downloaded: June 8, 2010). Cordasco, Francesco & Gatner S.M, Elliott. Research and Report Writing. Barnes & Noble Inc. seventh printing 1959 L.C. catalogue card Number: 58-10228. Dominick, Joseph R. The Dynamics of Mass Communication, 7th edition. The Mc Graw-Hill Companies Inc. Fahm, Mishal. The West and Islam. Routledge Curzon, London, 2003. ISBN: 0-41531634-0. Featherstone, Sue & Pape Susan. Newspaper Journalism, A practical Introduction. SAGE Publication, 55 city Road London ECIY ISP. ISBN: 0-7619-4328-5 Hutt, Allen. Newspaper Design. Oxford University Press, New York 1960. Khalid, A.R. Communication Today. Caravan Press, Darbaar Market Lahore, 1990 Massey, Kimberly K. Reading in Mass Communication, media literacy and culture, second edition. The Mc Graw-Hill Companies Inc. 1999. ISBN: 0-7674-2476-X. McQuail, D. (1994) Mass Communication Theory: An Introduction, 3rd edition. Sage, London. McQuail, D. and Windahl, S. (1993) Communication Models for the study of Mass Communications, 2nd edition. Longman, London. Mernissi, Fatima. Islam and Democracy, Fear of the Modern World. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. ISBN: 0-201-60883-9. National Book Trust (NBT) Survey 2009, undertaken by National Council of Applied Economic Research on behalf of National Book Trust, "National Youth Readership Survey", Available online: http://india.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2010/03/26/youthreadership-survey-india-some-trends/, (Downloaded: June 11, 2010). Newspaper, Definition. Available online: http://www.answers.com/topic/newspaper, (Downloaded: June 8, 2010). Newspaper, Definition. Available online: http://www.google.com.pk/search? hl=en&defl=en&q=define:newspaper&sa=X&ei=lHE8TO_vGYTmsQOqtLzaCg&ved= 0CBMQkAE, (Downloaded: June 8, 2010). News, Definition, Available online: http://www.google.com.pk/search? hl=en&q=define:news&btnG=Search&meta=, (Downloaded: June 8, 2010).

Reader, Definition, Available online: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/reader, (Downloaded: June 8, 2010). Seaton, Jean and Curran James. Power Without Responsibility, the press and broadcasting in Britain, fourth edition. Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London 1991. ISBN: 0-415-06450-3. Penn State University along with Educational Benchmarking Inc. in a pilot "national study on newspaper readership". Available online: http://www.sa.psu.edu/sara/newspapers.shtml. (Downloaded: June 13, 2010). Shamsuddin, Muhammad. Iblagh-e-amaa Kay Nazriyat. Muqtadira Quami Zuban Pakistan 1990. Shamsuddin, Muhammad. Iblagh-e-amaa Ke Naye Jahaten. Muqtadira Quami Zuban Pakistan 2009. Siddiqi, Kamal. The Internet Journalist. CeLTS, Monash University, Churchill, Victoria, Australia 3842. ISBN: 0-7326-2220-4. Television, Definition, Available online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television, (Downloaded: June 8, 2010) The Pew Research Centre for the People & the Press, "Online Papers Modestly Boost Newspaper Readership". Available online: http://people-press.org/report/282/onlinepapers-modestly-boost-newspaper-readership, (Downloaded: May 22, 2010). The Pew Research Centre for the People & the Press, "Newspapers Face a Challenging Calculus: Online Growth, but Print Losses are Bigger". Available online: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1133/decline-print-newspapers-increased-online-news, (Downloaded: June 13, 2010) Viewer, Definition, Available online: http://www.google.com.pk/search? hl=en&defl=en&q=define:viewer&sa=X&ei=pXY8TODwC5CWsgPb8P3ZCg&ved=0C BMQkAE, (Downloaded: June 8, 2010). Ward, Mike. Journalism Online. Focal Press, first south Asia edition 2003 Linacre House, Jordon Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP. ISBN: 0-240-51610-9. Weiner, Richard. Websters World, Dictionary of Media and Communications. A Simon & Schuster Macmillan Company 1633 Broadway New York. ISBN: 0-02860611-6. Williams, Federick. The New Communications Wadsworth Inc. 1989 ISBN: 0-53409378-7. Wilson & Brenda, "Factors that predict Newspaper reading habits in College Students". Available online: http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/0/2/9/0/pages202 904/p202904-3.php, (Downloaded: June 13, 2010). Woods, Keith. Best Newspaper Writing 2002. Bonus Books Illinois street, Chicago. Posted by Aqeel Ahmed Rajpar at 6:20 AM --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You might also like