Newspapers in Education: What We Know

A national program to advance the use of newspapers as an educational tool in the schools was initiated more than 20 years ago. Today, newspapers in education (NIE), as the programs are called, are being conducted by at least 18% of all United States newspapers. About 350 newspapers are employing NIE coordinators or directors of educational services. More than 250 programs are distributing an estimated 44.6 million newspapers each school year reaching about 1 out of 5 schools, 1 out of 20 teachers and 1 out of 10 students. It is estimated newspaper businesses are spending over $2 million for staff time, teacher training and supplementary materials in addition to the cost of providing newspapers at a reduced subscription price.' In the early 1960s there were about five graduate credit courses/ workshops offered in colleges and universities across the U.S. This past year there were well over 125 graduate credit programs. In addition, newspapers, school districts and educational organizations sponsored a plethora of inservice programs on the use of newspapers for teaching and learning. The literature on suggestions, techniques and ideas for using newspaper's content in the classroom is enormous. Newspaper readership surveys are abundant. The research regarding newspapers as an instructional tool, its influence on attitudes and achievement is sparse. After a thorough investigation, only three doctoral dissertations and about 40 other studies were found. The results of several studies are reported in this article.