| Show Americas America's reading habits Some among us are not too old to remember the time when it was widely assumed that television was going to tomake tomake tomake make reading obsolete When television sets became common it was predicted books magazines and other reading material would no longer be required Well it hasn't quite worked out that way although it is true that 94 percent of all households in the United States now have at least one television set and many homes have two or more The Christopher News Notes reports in their February 1974 issue that U. U S. S consumption of reading material is booming Here are some of the figures Last year over 18 billion pounds of newsprint were used and the demands are increasing There are now newspapers in our country in addition to 2037 other periodicals and publications Last year nearly new books were published with circulation in the millions Clearly Americans have not stopped reading Indeed as leisure time increases people will have more opportunity to read In light of these facts The offer some guidelines and they suggest that you ask yourself these questions Do I read with a critical eye trying to distinguish between fact and fiction Do I remain open to new insights Or Ordo Ordo Ordo do I limit myself only to newspapers and magazines I agree with Do I support and use my public library Do I back worthwhile publications with my purchasing dollar Or do I merely complain about the lowering standards in reading ma material Of course it is good news to us that people still look to their local newspapers as their major source of day t day to day information We suggest that the reason is that in spite of the widespread complaints of news slanting and bias in the press most newspapers are doing a good job in bringing to the people what they want accurate and up-t up date up-to-date date news stories of importance to the community and to the country |
