ABSTRACT
American newspapers are facing a serious challenge as the nation ages. Growth among the coveted 18-to 34-year-old target demographic group of readers has been flat for some time: “It is clear that aging is among the trends that will have the most profound effect on readership” (Somerville, 2001, p. 24). Older readers continue to provide newspapers with their largest gains in readership, but we may be experiencing a change from the findings from the last century. Stone (1987) found that reading patterns remained stable for adults through the working years, but “reading frequency drops slightly after age 65, due possible to health, eyesight, or finances” (p. 109).
