Reading in America

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve
Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Gwen Outen. This week our program examines reading in the
United States.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Americans have read a lot in recent weeks about a study. It shows
that for the first time in modern history, fewer than half the
adults in the country read literature.

A federal agency that gives money to the arts announced the
findings. The National Endowment for the Arts is the official arts
organization of the United States government.

The report says forty-seven percent of American adults read
novels, short stories, plays or poetry in two-thousand-two. That was
down ten percentage points from twenty years earlier.

The study is called "Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary
Reading in America." The Census Bureau, the agency that collects
facts about the population, did the study.

VOICE TWO:

Researchers asked seventeen-thousand people about their reading.
The people could define literature however they wanted. It could be
any kind of fiction, poetry or play. It could include works like
love stories, mysteries or science fiction. The researchers compared
the results with findings from nineteen-eighty-two and
nineteen-ninety-two.

Women read more literature than men. But the research shows that
men and women are both reading less and less.

Twenty years ago, people between the ages of eighteen and
forty-four read more literature than any other age groups. But the
new study shows an increasingly sharp loss of interest in reading
among young adults. Researchers say the only people who read less
literature in two-thousand-two were those age sixty-five and older.

VOICE ONE:

The poet Dana Gioia is chairman of
the National Endowment for the Arts. Mister Gioia says all groups in
America are reading less, and not just less literature. In
nineteen-ninety-two, sixty-one percent of adults read a book. In
two-thousand-two, it was fifty-seven percent. The average number of
books read was eighteen. But some people read a lot more than
others.

Among readers of literature, almost half read novels or short
stories in two-thousand-two. Twelve percent read poetry. Four
percent read a play.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

"Reading at Risk" notes that the book industry in the United
States now sells three times as many books as it did twenty-five
years ago. In two-thousand the industry sold more than two thousand
million books. Book sales are up. But the report shows that people
are reading less for pleasure. And it says one reason is competition
from technology.

The report lists how Americans divide their spending on things
like entertainment. In nineteen-ninety, they spent six percent on
audio and video recordings and on computers and software. They spent
almost as much, five-point-seven percent, on books.

By two-thousand-two, five-point-six percent went to book buying.
Twenty-four percent went to electronics.

But some people do use technology to listen to recordings of
books or read electronic versions.

VOICE ONE:

In the words of Dana Gioia, the chairman of the National
Endowment for the Arts: "This report documents a national crisis."

Yet there are some who say Americans should not read too much
into the importance of the warnings. Charles McGrath is former
editor of the Book Review at The New York Times. The newspaper
published a commentary in which Mister McGrath noted that the study
dealt only with literature.

He said he regrets that the research did not include works of
non-fiction. After all, he says, some books about facts and events
are very important for the information they provide. For example, he
says recent books about the war in Iraq are shaping national debate.

Also, Mister McGrath noted that the report did not consider
magazines, newspapers or the Internet. And this literary critic
criticized the fact that the people in the study could define
literature any way they wished. They were told they did not have to
include "just what literary critics might consider literature."

VOICE TWO:

While Americans are reading less literature, more are trying to
write it. "Reading at Risk" says creative writing is one of the few
literary activities that have increased.

And editors like David Green are trying to help people get their
work printed. For many years, he has published a small magazine of
short stories called Green's Magazine. Mister Green says it is
costly to produce and mail four times a year. A few thousand
Americans and Canadians buy it. But he says one reason he started
the publication was to help beginning writers. He says it has always
been difficult for new writers to find a publisher.

Today, though, writers who cannot get their work published by a
traditional publishing company can place their work on the Internet.
That way, people can read it online or print out a copy.

Some people who publish on the Internet are far from unknown. The
writer Stephen King published "Riding the Bullet" online. It cost
only a little money to read. But he suspended publication of his
next online book, "The Plant." He did that because people were
printing the book without paying.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

"Reading at Risk" says more than ninety percent of people said
they like television better than reading. The average American
family watches television more than three hours a day. The report
says television has reduced interest in books.

We talked to a professor who teaches literature in Maryland. She
says many of her students do not want to read the books required in
her classes. They try to read only notes and commentaries about the
books instead. She says the problem is that college students these
days grew up on television.

VOICE TWO:

Yet some television programs have influenced people to read. For
example, Oprah Winfrey started a book club on her popular talk show.
During the first Oprah's Book Club, she chose a current book that
she liked. She asked people to read the book and then write to her
show with their thoughts and opinions.

Oprah's Book Club had a big effect on the publishing industry.
Publishers had to print more copies of books to satisfy demand.
People who wanted to borrow copies from a library sometimes found
several hundred others before them on the waiting list.

In two-thousand-two, Oprah Winfrey decided to drop the book club
from her television show. Now, however, she is again suggesting
books. This time, she chooses classics. Her choice of "Anna
Karenina" made this Russian classic an American best seller. Leo
Tolstoy wrote it in the eighteen-seventies.

VOICE ONE:

Many Americans form their own book clubs. Members might be
friends from work. Or they might live near each other. Most groups
read the same book at the same time. Then they meet to discuss it.
Some people discuss books over the Internet.

Some book groups read only literary novels by great writers. Or
they might read the works of only one writer. Members of a book club
in the state of Georgia choose books of special interest to African
Americans. Members of another Georgia book club each read different
books. Then they give a report to the others.

Children belong to reading clubs, too. In Illinois, for example,
Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago has organized book clubs in schools.

Children's book clubs can get help from the Great Books
Foundation. This organization provides lists of books to read and
also sells collected stories. It also trains people to lead
discussions about the books.

VOICE TWO:

The National Endowment for the Arts says the move toward
electronic media for entertainment and information is not good news
for society. Its report, "Reading at Risk," says readers are more
active in their communities.

The research shows that people who read literature are far more
likely than non-readers to give their time to help others. They are
more likely to support the arts. They are also more likely to attend
sporting events. In other words, reading influences people's lives
beyond just the pleasure that books provide.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty
Weaver. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Gwen Outen. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA
in VOA Special English.