Research and Teaching Informed by Many Sources

While traditional peer-reviewed journal content remains a staple resource for researchers, a recent ProQuest survey indicates that research and teaching is informed by a diverse mix of content types. Newspapers and news content, the data revealed, form a vital part of content needs, used by nearly three fourths of the 410 researchers who responded to the survey. An even greater number of researchers, who also teach recommend newspapers to their students, indicating the value of newspapers for undergraduate research.

Ayling, M. (2017). Research and teaching rely on content diversity: Faculty use multiple content types in their work and they’re teaching students to look beyond journals

Reading for pleasure impact study

Children who read for pleasure are likely to do significantly better at school than their peers, according to research from the Institute of Education in the UK. The study found that readers made more progress in math, vocabulary, and spelling between the ages of 10 and 16 than those who rarely read. Researchers found that reading for pleasure was more important for children’s cognitive development between ages 10 and 16 than their parents’ level of education. combined effect on children’s progress of reading books often, going to the library regularly and reading newspapers at 16 was four times greater than the advantage children gained from having a parent with a degree. Children who were read to regularly by their parents at age 5 performed better in all three tests at age 16 than those who were not helped in this way.
Alice Sullivan and Matt Brown. (2013). Social inequalities in cognitive scores at age 16: The role of reading. London: Centre for Longitudinal Studies.
http://www.cls.ioe.ac.uk/news.aspx?itemid=2740&itemTitle=Reading+for+pleasure+puts+children+ahead+in+the+classroom%2C+study+finds&sitesectionid=27

News report

Young Adults Are Giving Newspapers Scant Notice
Most teenagers and adults 30 and younger are not following the news closely at all, according to a recent report.
Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. (2007). Young People and News. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.