PATTERNS OF NEWSPAPER READERSHIP AMONG TEENAGERS

Abstract

The long-term decline in U.S. newspaper circulation has prompted numerous efforts to research, reorganize, and restructure the newspaper in order to meet the changing needs of the various audiences. One audience of particular interest is that of the adolescent, for it is the young person who is just developing newspaper usage patterns that may remain with him a good part of his adult life. This study is the first of a two-part investigation of adolescent newspaper readership and its evolution as young people grow into adulthood. Using data from over 1300 eleventh and twelfth graders in Dallas, Texas high schools, the author identifies four different types of newspaper readers and attempts to classify them on the basis of a comprehensive set of individual, environmental, and stimulus object factors. The findings emphasize the importance of environment variables in explaining differences in adolescent newspaper readership.