American newspapers don’t aggressively support literacy. That is killing them; and it’s killing us.
Wouldn’t you think that newspapers would scream and holler in every possible way to make the public schools do a better job with reading?
Yes, common sense dictates that you would think that. If children aren’t learning to read, where will newspapers get their customers in the future?
Somehow we now have 50 million functional illiterates. Public schools, in general, do a lousy job with the basics. Reading, writing, arithmetic, and foundational knowledge. (Even if people can read but do not know where Spain is on a map, they are not likely to be buyers of newspapers. They will lack the background information to make sense of new information.)
In sum, all of the bad tendencies suggested by the phrase “dumbing down” are going to impact with special brutality on print media. So why do newspapers do such a lousy job of supporting what is in THEIR best interest? Are they oblivious? Do they like the idea of dying?
I urge everyone to think about the education you would like your children, and other children, to have. Are you thinking of a good, solid, academic education? I believe it’s best for each individual child. And I believe it’s best for the entire society.
Conversely, a dumbed-down education such as that offered in many public schools is devastating for each individual child and for the entire society. Who can argue?
One way to help is to insist that your local paper do a better job. Send letters and story suggestions. Report bad practices in the local schools. Complain!
The American Society of News Editors (ASNE) has a pretentious list of principles, for example, “The American press was made free... to bring an independent scrutiny to bear on the forces of power in the society, including the conduct of official power at all levels of government.”
Really? Do you feel that our newspapers are bringing “independent scrutiny to bear” on the Education Establishment? No, they treat it with kid gloves, the same way they treat President Obama. This is not good for our educational system, nor good for our political system.
Well, if this country is going to hell, as some think, the way it happens is that the schools are used to dumb people down so they can no longer tell what hell is and isn’t. I like the idea of saving the country one public school at a time.
