Paul Collins on a survey question about reading in America: “"The survey asked respondents if, during the previous twelve months, they had read any novels, short stories, plays, or poetry in their leisure time (not for work or school)." It will come as news to historians and memoirists, working in the two most vibrantly evolving genres of the last decade, that what they create does not constitute "reading." Nor, for that matter, do essays or graphic narratives. ¶ [...] The question's wording also rules out any students who may already be reading for their classes, and for that reason are not engaged in leisure reading. Fancy that: You can be an English major and still be a nonreader. And then, when you're done working on your term paper, you can relax in the campus coffeehouse Not-Reading newspapers and magazines, and fire up your laptop to Not-Read the blogs and the latest wire reports.”
Collins looks to Japan and finds that in an incredibly technology-centric society, not only were the survey methods were better, but the surveys found that reading rates have risen rather than fallen. Collins also does some funky quote mashing-up to show that today is not the first time that the demise of reading has been incorrectly predicted.
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