This year, USA WEEKEND Magazine partnered with two leaders in the newspaper field – the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Newspaper Association of America Foundation – as well as YouthNOISE.com to bring teens our 17th Annual Teen Survey.

More than 65,000 teens, age 13 to 18, responded via mail and the internet, proving that teens love to give their opinions—all you have to do is ask. Here are the results:

4) Do you think print newspapers will become obsolete because of other media (TV, Internet, etc.)?
24% Yes
50% No
26% Don't know

Younger students are more uncertain.

5) Is a newspaper delivered to your home?
70% Yes
30% No

Three-quarters of white respondents (74%) have the paper delivered to their homes vs. 59% of minorities. Despite this, minorities are just as likely to say the newspaper is relevant and read it with the same frequency as whites. Minorities even spend 3 more minutes, on average, than whites reading the paper.

15%
47%
22%
16%

15%
20%
14%
13%
7%
9%
6%
16%

Never
A few days (1 to 3 days)
Most days (4 to 6 days)
Every day

Never
1 day a week
2 days
3 days
4 days
5 days
6 days
Every day

No significant differences by gender or race; younger students read less often.
Girls: 3.0 average
Boys: 3.2
Whites: 3.1
Minorities: 3.1
Grades 6-8: 2.7
Grades 9-12: 3.3

9) Of those who never read a newspaper or read one only a few days a week, the percentage who say it's because (multiple answers allowed):

10) Asked of those who read a newspaper at least once a week: When you read the newspaper, how many minutes a day, on average, do you spend reading it?

Average: 21 minutes
Median: 18 minutes

No significant differences by gender or age; minorities spend a few more minutes on the paper than whites.
Average:
Girls: 21
Boys: 22
Whites: 21
Minorities: 24
Grades 6-8: 21
Grades 9-12: 22

11) Percentage of teens who read the following parts of a newspaper:

75% girls; 67% boys
74% girls; 61% boys
69% girls; 54% boys
44% girls; 67% boys
61% girls; 37% boys
50% girls; 41% boys
56% girls; 27% boys
48% girls; 39% boys
51% girls; 21% boys




17% girls; 41% boys

13% girls; 32% boys

Most popular sections for girls: Comics, Front Page, Movie Reviews/Listings, Entertainment/Style, Teen Section.

Most popular sections for boys: Comics and Sports (tie), Front Page, Movie Reviews/Listings, Local/State News and Automotive/Cars (tie).

12) What part of the newspaper do you usually read first?(Pick one.)

Top 3 (after that, nothing gets more than 4%)
36% Front Page
19% Comics
15% Sports

Although the previous question showed significant differences between boys and girls, they are in agreement that the front page is read first.

13) Percentage of teens who would like to see more of the following in their local paper (Multiple answers allowed.):

Boys are twice as satisfied as girls with the existing newspaper. Majority of girls would like to see more news by and for teens. Boys' top choice would be more sports.

14) For each of the following news stories, which medium do you rely on to get most of your information?

Boys are less likely to follow the Timberlake/Diaz romance (65% of boys don't follow vs. 42% of girls) and the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case (38% boys vs. 25% girls). Whites are less likely to follow the Kobe Bryant case (29% say they don't follow vs. 19% of minorities) and Timberlake/Diaz romance (54% don't follow vs. 43% minorities).

15) For each of the following descriptions, check which medium you think it applies to most.

For most entertaining, girls are twice as likely to give the nod to magazines as boys. 29% of girls say magazines vs. 13% of boys. A higher percentage of boys say TV—60% vs. 48% of girls.

16) Where are you most likely to turn for more information in each of the following situations?

Demographics:

Sex:
39%
61%

Race:
75%
6%
4%
9%
3%
3%

Grade:
10%
12%
18%
15%
15%
14%
16%

40%
60%

Male
Female

White
Hispanic
Multiracial
Black
Asian
Other


6
7
8
9
10
11
12

6th-8th
9th-12th