Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

12-1988

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Communication

Major Professor

George Everett

Committee Members

John Morrow, Paul Ashdown, Herbert H. Howard

Abstract

US newspaper literacy programs were studied as to scope, period of existence, audience, staffing, relationship with newspaper management, goals, and activities offered. A second objective of the research was to extrapolate from the findings ways in which some of the elements of the US literacy programs could be applied in Nigeria where the adult illiteracy level is very high.

Questionnaires were mailed to newspaper literacy coordinators requesting information about their programs. The names of the newspapers surveyed were taken from listings provided by the American Newspapers Publishers Association (ANPA), The Scripps Howard Literacy Factsheet, the El Paso Herald-Post, and Ms. Diana Morgan, the literacy coordinator at the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

Questionnaires were sent to 119 newspapers. Of these, 49 newspapers are using 43 adult literacy programs, and 16 newspaper responded they did not have programs. Total response rate to the study is 54 percent. Twenty of the newspapers with programs are in the Southern, 20 in the Northern, and 9 in the Western regions of the country. Most of the literacy programs are designed for the illiterate population in the inner cities, rural communities, bilingual areas, and prisons. The primary purposes of the programs are to raise the level of community literacy and to increase community awareness of the illiteracy problem. The activities most often offered in the programs are: creating community awareness of the illiteracy problem, publicizing the already-existing program of another agency in the community, providing funding for the already-existing program of another agency, providing textbooks and distributing materials, and training tutors.

The average age of the literacy programs is 2.16 years (as of early 1988), and while some newspapers plan to expand (or contract) their programs according to local need, some have no such plans because of financial, time and manpower constraints. Most of the literacy coordinators believe their programs have good management support from their newspapers. Many of the coordinators rely on government and other agencies for information regarding the illiteracy problem. While many of the coordinators are not seriously monitoring the progress of their programs, those who do indicated that the most successful activities in their programs are the number of tutors trained, the number of people volunteering to tutor the illiterates, increased awareness of the problem in the community, and a rise in the newspaper's image, in that order. Finally, most of the coordinators have full-time employment (though not necessarily for program coordination only) and tend to be assisted by part timers and volunteers. Most have backgrounds in journalism, education or a combination of the two.

Drawn from the US experience, one can presume that some elements of the US newspaper literacy programs can be and should be adapted to Nigeria. The recommendations for application are that Nigerian programs should: be designed for illiterate adults; be run through only one newspaper for each program, focused on the particular needs of the local target; be run by at least one full-time literacy coordinator per program, and be assisted by part timers and volunteers, with the coordinator having education and journalism backgrounds; have good newspaper management and government support; seek and encourage a cooperative effort between newspaper programs and government agencies that could be useful in propagating and expanding the programs; target primarily the illiterate adults in rural communities; use radio in the implementation of the programs; attempt to spur the government to action on the illiteracy issue, particularly to establish local support agencies; and invite international news agencies to become involved in the planning and implementation of the programs.

One conclusion from the study was that most of the US newspapers that have literacy programs are located in California and the Southern part of the country. The US literacy programs are generally still evolving and trying to find where they can be most effective, but the outlook for the future is bright. However, most of the coordinators do not seem as well informed as they should be about the illiteracy problem, and a much better information network is needed.

Download
Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS