The New Aliterate Age

For me, one of the little pleasures of coming back to New York City is being exposed to the world's great newspapers. New York is home to a number of my favorite newspapers, and offers easy access to many of the world's great periodicals and magazines. After spending close to five years away from New York (in New Mexico and Arizona) I was shocked to see what is happening to print journalism in "The Big Apple." Our newspaper industry is dying! The New York Times now costs $2.00 per daily issue, a price increase driven by reduced readership. My favorite local paper, Newsday, is a skeleton of its former self, with reduced advertising and a perceptible decline in journalistic variety. Both newspapers have suffered persistent financial losses amid declining readership. Why?

Some pundits place the blame on the increased use of the Internet for daily news. However, that does not tell the full story. Countries like Japan. the Republic of Korea, and United Kingdom also have heavy Internet usage. However, they also have healthy newspaper readership and have not experienced the declines seen in American readership. Why?

A more disturbing trend may be the answer. It is called aliteracy. It is defined as "the quality or state of being able to read but [being] uninterested in doing so." (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition) Yes, reading—which was once indulged in as a pleasure—is now often spurned as a chore. The United States boasts a 97-percent literacy rate; yet, about half of American adults seldom read books or magazines! Clearly, reading ability is not always matched by reading desire. This is true even among well-educated persons. "When I come home tired from a long day," says a Harvard University graduate, "I turn on the TV instead of picking up a book. It's easier."

Becoming an aliterate society, replacing reading with computer games, movies, and other less challenging entertainment, does not bode well for the future. We become less aware of what is happening in our own society and the world at large. We lose the ability to interact with a variety of cultures, and become less competitive. It has an impact on our social, cultural and economic health. Do you agree?

Declining U.S. Newspaper Circulation Potentially Signals Decline In Literacy Critical To Nation's Economic Health