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Here's a little news item we ran across the other day concerning newspapers - like us! I guess with all the internet stuff out there people still read newspapers!
Local newspapers remain the dominant source of news in small towns and rural areas, according to the results of a new survey performed by the Reynolds Journalism Institute's Center for Advanced Social Research and the University of Missouri's School of Journalism on behalf of the National Newspaper Association.
Overall, 74% of residents of these areas said they read the local newspapers at least once a week, with 48% reading them once a week and 11% reading them every day.
When interpreting these results, it should be remembered that many of the newspapers in question are weeklies or "non-dailies," making up 86% of the newspapers in the survey. Thus, 70% of the respondents said they read non-dailies.
Respondents said they spent an average of 39 minutes a week reading the local newspaper, up slightly from a previous survey in 2010. The survey also found that older adults, residents who have stayed in their communities longer, and people with more education read local newspapers significantly more than younger adults, residents of shorter duration, and those with less education.
Among respondents who said they read a local newspaper, 92% said they pay for the newspaper, and the rest get it free. Within this group, 67% subscribe to the newspaper, while 33% said they buy it from a news rack or store.
In terms of motivation, 83.2% of respondents who read the local newspaper do so primarily for the news content, but 69.2% also agreed that it "provides valuable local shopping and advertising information."
The organizations surveyed 500 adults ages 18 and over living in areas served by newspapers with a circulation under 15,000.
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Ron Dentinger - former Dodgevilleite, professional comedian/Master of Ceremonies/entertainer, former Director of the Dodgeville Area Chamber of Commerce and most of the time pretty good guy - was interviewed on Chicago's WCCQ radio the other day about The American Society of Crotchety Old Men. Here's a sample of one of the quips hat can be found on the website: Spitting at MLB Baseball Games: There is so much spitting during MLB baseball games the stadiums show up as "light drizzle" on weather radar.
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I was heading back to the office from breakfast at Country Kitchen Sunday (New Year's Day) and was going about 35-40 MPH, getting set to turn into the left hand turn lane by Kwik Trip when a car sped past me in the right hand lane and cut me off as it turned to head towards the downtown. It must've been going 50 or so as it headed to the yellow light and roared around the corner to make the left turn. Gee, that was the first IOWA driving story I have written about in 2012!
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I was at Country Kitchen - with my neighbors Jack and Dorothy Weirich - eating breakfast/brunch New Year's Day. I must confess that I had some dessert after eating the breakfast items - twice! And I also took one of my late buddy's rolls, that are now made by his sons. I can honestly say that those rolls were a year old and they tasted as good as the day they were made - last year! Now think about that!