Dimensions of Student Interest in Reading Newspapers

Researchers have long been perplexed by the declining interest shown in newspaper readership since 1970, especially among college-age readers (e.g. Barnhust & Wartella, 1991). At present, fewer than 40 percent of adults under the age of 30 subscribe to a paper. Thus, even as media use accounts for increasing amounts of leisure time, newspaper reading continues to decline (Bogart, 1989; Timbs, 1993). The purpose of this study is to assess dimensions of interest for leisure reading among college students. In particular, we focus on the influence of media use, non-media leisure, and academic major on newspaper content preferences. Consideration of these trends is important in light of the relationship between newspaper readership and knowledge in political and civic issues (e.g. Bagdikian, 1990). To the extent that newspaper reading encourages a better-informed electorate, a healthy appetite for print may well be critical to the maintenance of participatory democracy. It remains to be seen how effectively newspapers compete--given a dwindling pool of public leisure time-amidst a widening pool of competing media (Lin, 1994). NEWSPAPER READERSHIP Early research on newspaper readership found that non-readers were likely to be extremely young or old, live in a rural area, and occupy lower social status than readers (Westley & Severin, 1964). While other studies confirm this upscale subscriber profile (e.g. Rarick, 1973), there's little evidence of heavy readership at younger age levels. Most find instead that age is predictive of newspaper readership (Bogart, 1989; Finnegan & Viswanath, 1988; Stamm & Fortini-Campbell, 1983). Recent declines in newspaper readership may thus be generational, as readership habits have been eroded by lifestyle changes (e.g., reductions in time among working women), physical delivery problems (e.g., among high-rise apartments) and competition from other media (Miller, 1987).In assessing the role of age, Finnegan and Viswanath (1988) maintain that family ties, home ownership and other related ties to the community are more common among the elderly, and therefore contribute to their dependency on local media. Moreover, since home owners are likely to remain in a community, newspaper readership helps satisfy information needs and community ties among such residents (Sobal & Jackson-Beek, 1981; Jeffres, Dobos & Lee, 1988). Other demographic correlates include marriage and employment in a professional-technical job (Schweitzer, 1976). Yet, as Hu and Wu (1991) note, demographic analyses have offered diminishing returns in recent years, as readership seems instead to be more dynamically related to sociological variables (e.g., community integration). Their own results suggest that education was the only background predictor of readership in an Illinois sample. The link between education and readership is the cornerstone of the "knowledge-gap" perspective (Tichenor, Donohue & Olien, 1980. Simply put, this tradition suggests that better educated residents have a greater need for newspapers, and are likely to derive more information from them. Education also is important for adoption of media such as cable which, in turn, is related to newspaper readership (Grotta & Newsom, 1983; Jeffres, 1978; LaRose & Atkin, 1988; Viswanath, Finnegan, Rooney & Potter, 1990). THE ROLE OF OTHER MEDIA Newspapers compete with other media as instrumental sources of information as well as expressive vehicles in the leisure arena. Furthermore, the media environment itself is undergoing rapid changes as new technologies create new media and blur the boundaries between existing communication channels. Recent years have seen cable penetration surpass that of newspapers. With the ongoing proliferation of video and information technologies, how do news consumers make choices in today's complex environment? Earlier studies of other media use (Jeffres, 1978) suggested that newspaper reading was complementary to television use. …