Media To Consider 5/11/18
Books and Articles worth a Review…
What Are You Reading? – I came across a statistic in the last week that was shocking at best. The statement that drew my attention is that One third (1/3) of high school graduates and 42% of college graduates never read another book after completing their degree! I actually couldn’t believe it. So, I did some further research and the results come from a study done in 2003 by the Jenkins Group, Inc. – an independent publishing company. So, what’s wrong with that? In a period where transformational change is all around us – where are people getting their new information? So, I did some research. Here’s what I found:
- According to the National Library Board, 68% of Americans get their news and information via print or digital sources; 41% via social media sources; and, 19% via books and e-books.
- The Pew Research Center basically did a similar study in 2016 with the same results.
- A Reuters Institute study discovered that only 16% of the U.S. population paid for digital news last year with only half of those paying for a recurring subscription. In other words, only about 52 million Americans are getting their news this way. The remaining 274 million Americans are simply using Facebook, free news services and websites they like to supply them with “news”.
- The Millennials and GenZ are more likely to pay for news subscriptions than any other generation although it’s still relatively low.
- So, where do people get their news? Historically, it’s been via television, but that source is on the decline as well. The upsurge in take home news for the clear majority of Americans is via social media.
Now – do these statistics cause you heartburn or, is it just me? The era of Walter Cronkite or Huntley and Brinkley sourced, reliable and consistent information is over! Anyone can throw “news” out on the web. Folks – the combination of these data points is of major concern or am I becoming my father?
