Christian media's reach surveyed by LifeWay Research
by Bob Smietana, posted Wednesday, February 25, 2015 (an hour ago)
NASHVILLE (BP) -- Christian broadcasters have a devoted following, with about two-thirds of weekly churchgoers and evangelicals saying they tune in to Christian radio and television on a regular basis.
Christian books have a reach among churchgoers and evangelicals, and Christian movies remain popular, with about four in 10 Americans having seen one in the last year.
But many Americans never connect to Christian media.
Those are among the findings of a new study on the use of Christian media from Nashville-based LifeWay Research. The study, sponsored by the National Religious Broadcasters, included an online survey of 2,252 Americans and a phone survey of 1,009 Americans.
"Christian media delivers teaching, music and entertainment to a predominantly Christian constituency," Ed Stetzer, executive director of LifeWay Research, noted. "Not surprisingly, those who embrace Christian teaching will value and consume these the most." Stetzer released the study's findings Feb. 25 during the NRB national convention in Nashville.
This is an excerpt. To read the entire article, click here.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Only 54 percent of Americans read a book in 2014
NEA: Only 54 percent of Americans read a book in 2014
Written by Shawn A. Akers
Thursday, 12 February 2015 09:00 AM EST
reading-a-bookThe statistics may be shocking to some. But according a study done by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Nielsen research firm, only 54 percent of Americans read a book of any kind last year, print or digital.
The “Decade of Arts Engagement” survey, which included 37,000 Americans, also revealed that the number of adults who read at least one novel, play or poem within the past year fell from 50% in 2008 to 47% percent in 2012. Thirty years ago, that number was at 56%.
Additionally, the survey revealed that the decline in fiction reading occurred mostly among white Americans—including men and women of various educational backgrounds—but the rates held steady among non-white and Hispanic groups.
Similar to newspapers, sales of print books are on a down slope. Fiction sales have suffered more than those of nonfiction. The sales of e-books have somewhat offset that trend, with 28% of adults reading in e-book in 2013, up 23% percent from the previous year, as reported on marketwatch.com.
Elizabeth Birr Moje, an education professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, believes the dip in fiction reading could simply be temporary.
“We have to be careful about making too much of changes from one point in time to another in examining [a] social phenomenon,” Moje told marketwatch.com.
Author Christopher Sorrentino told Dennis Abrams of publishingperspectives.com that biographies and self-help books could have a “certain utilitarian appeal.”
Market Watch’s Quentin Fottrell speculates that simple narcissism could also be a major contributor to the drop in the popularity of fiction.
“Americans may be more fascinated with their own lives than with those featured in great works of literary fiction,” he wrote. Fottrell pointed out that 56% of Internet users have Googled themselves.
According to a 2013 report by eMarketer, Americans spend 23 hours each week using social media, emailing and texting, to go along with easily accessible entertainment such as online gambling, music and movie and TV sites such as Hulu and Netflix.
At MarketWatch, Quintin Fottrell broke down the results of a new survey by the NEA along with research by the marketing firm Nielsen to determine what exactly Americans are reading and how it breaks down by gender.
Some of the results:
The number of adults who read at least one novel, play or poem within the past year fell from 50% in 2008 to 47% in 2012, according to a new survey of over 37,000 Americans, “A Decade of Arts Engagement” by the National Endowment for the Arts. (Thirty years ago, that number was at 56%.)
While reading fiction rose from 2002 to 2008, it’s been falling off ever since, and is now back down to 2002 levels. According to Fottrell, “The decline in fiction reading last year occurred mostly among white Americans, including men and women of various educational backgrounds; rates held steady among non-white and Hispanic groups,” according to the report.
Perhaps not surprisingly, men read more nonfiction than fiction; women read more fiction than men. Young adults are also more likely to read fiction than nonfiction, while Americans aged 75 and older are more likely to read nonfiction.
There were state by state differences as well. In Washington, 63% read literary fiction, dropping down to 56% in Colorado, Rhode Island and Connecticut, with just 37% in Nevada, 36% in Virginia, and … 34% in Alabama.
A mere 54% of Americans read any kind of book last year, be it print or digital, fiction or nonfiction. But fiction has seen the greatest drop in sales, according to Nielsen. While adult print book sales fell 2.5% to around 501.6 million from 2012 to 2013, non fiction sales were stable at 225.2 million; fiction sales dropped 11% to just 103.5 million. Poetry saw the sharpest decline in readership of any “literary genre,” falling from 12% to just 6.7%, according to the NEA.
But why the drop in fiction sales? Author Christopher Sorrentino speculated that biographies and self-help books could have a “certain utilitarian appeal. “Who wants to spend two weeks reading a novel that you might not like much?” he asked Fottrell.
And in an era of social media, it’s more and more difficult to “bond around the water cooler” to talk about a novel. Sorrentino pointed out that while there are thousands of novels published every year, only “a few hundred” get noticed, even by a “discerning reading public” either through newspaper reviews or celebrity endorsements. And while there are those occasional books that do go water cooler cool such as Gone Girl or Fifty Shades of Grey, “It’s really hard to read William Faulkner and go into the office and say, ‘What did you think of that last chapter of Light in August?’ In addition, he pointed out; people who might normally be attracted to novels can get fictional narratives complete with “complex characters” on cable TV.
Another possible explanation for the drop in popularity of fiction, Fottrell speculates is simple narcissism: “Americans,” he writes, “may be more fascinated with their own lives than with those featured in great works of literary fiction.” 56% of Internet users, he points out, have Googled themselves.
Then add to that self-interest the wide array of easily accessible entertainment, such as online gambling, music, and movie and TV sites such as Hulu and Netflix (according to a 2013 report by eMarketer, Americans spend 23 per hours each and every week ‘using social media, emailing and texting”), it’s a wonder that anybody has time to read anything at all.
To read the entire article, click here.
Written by Shawn A. Akers
Thursday, 12 February 2015 09:00 AM EST
reading-a-bookThe statistics may be shocking to some. But according a study done by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Nielsen research firm, only 54 percent of Americans read a book of any kind last year, print or digital.
The “Decade of Arts Engagement” survey, which included 37,000 Americans, also revealed that the number of adults who read at least one novel, play or poem within the past year fell from 50% in 2008 to 47% percent in 2012. Thirty years ago, that number was at 56%.
Additionally, the survey revealed that the decline in fiction reading occurred mostly among white Americans—including men and women of various educational backgrounds—but the rates held steady among non-white and Hispanic groups.
Similar to newspapers, sales of print books are on a down slope. Fiction sales have suffered more than those of nonfiction. The sales of e-books have somewhat offset that trend, with 28% of adults reading in e-book in 2013, up 23% percent from the previous year, as reported on marketwatch.com.
Elizabeth Birr Moje, an education professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, believes the dip in fiction reading could simply be temporary.
“We have to be careful about making too much of changes from one point in time to another in examining [a] social phenomenon,” Moje told marketwatch.com.
Author Christopher Sorrentino told Dennis Abrams of publishingperspectives.com that biographies and self-help books could have a “certain utilitarian appeal.”
Market Watch’s Quentin Fottrell speculates that simple narcissism could also be a major contributor to the drop in the popularity of fiction.
“Americans may be more fascinated with their own lives than with those featured in great works of literary fiction,” he wrote. Fottrell pointed out that 56% of Internet users have Googled themselves.
According to a 2013 report by eMarketer, Americans spend 23 hours each week using social media, emailing and texting, to go along with easily accessible entertainment such as online gambling, music and movie and TV sites such as Hulu and Netflix.
At MarketWatch, Quintin Fottrell broke down the results of a new survey by the NEA along with research by the marketing firm Nielsen to determine what exactly Americans are reading and how it breaks down by gender.
Some of the results:
The number of adults who read at least one novel, play or poem within the past year fell from 50% in 2008 to 47% in 2012, according to a new survey of over 37,000 Americans, “A Decade of Arts Engagement” by the National Endowment for the Arts. (Thirty years ago, that number was at 56%.)
While reading fiction rose from 2002 to 2008, it’s been falling off ever since, and is now back down to 2002 levels. According to Fottrell, “The decline in fiction reading last year occurred mostly among white Americans, including men and women of various educational backgrounds; rates held steady among non-white and Hispanic groups,” according to the report.
Perhaps not surprisingly, men read more nonfiction than fiction; women read more fiction than men. Young adults are also more likely to read fiction than nonfiction, while Americans aged 75 and older are more likely to read nonfiction.
There were state by state differences as well. In Washington, 63% read literary fiction, dropping down to 56% in Colorado, Rhode Island and Connecticut, with just 37% in Nevada, 36% in Virginia, and … 34% in Alabama.
A mere 54% of Americans read any kind of book last year, be it print or digital, fiction or nonfiction. But fiction has seen the greatest drop in sales, according to Nielsen. While adult print book sales fell 2.5% to around 501.6 million from 2012 to 2013, non fiction sales were stable at 225.2 million; fiction sales dropped 11% to just 103.5 million. Poetry saw the sharpest decline in readership of any “literary genre,” falling from 12% to just 6.7%, according to the NEA.
But why the drop in fiction sales? Author Christopher Sorrentino speculated that biographies and self-help books could have a “certain utilitarian appeal. “Who wants to spend two weeks reading a novel that you might not like much?” he asked Fottrell.
And in an era of social media, it’s more and more difficult to “bond around the water cooler” to talk about a novel. Sorrentino pointed out that while there are thousands of novels published every year, only “a few hundred” get noticed, even by a “discerning reading public” either through newspaper reviews or celebrity endorsements. And while there are those occasional books that do go water cooler cool such as Gone Girl or Fifty Shades of Grey, “It’s really hard to read William Faulkner and go into the office and say, ‘What did you think of that last chapter of Light in August?’ In addition, he pointed out; people who might normally be attracted to novels can get fictional narratives complete with “complex characters” on cable TV.
Another possible explanation for the drop in popularity of fiction, Fottrell speculates is simple narcissism: “Americans,” he writes, “may be more fascinated with their own lives than with those featured in great works of literary fiction.” 56% of Internet users, he points out, have Googled themselves.
Then add to that self-interest the wide array of easily accessible entertainment, such as online gambling, music, and movie and TV sites such as Hulu and Netflix (according to a 2013 report by eMarketer, Americans spend 23 per hours each and every week ‘using social media, emailing and texting”), it’s a wonder that anybody has time to read anything at all.
To read the entire article, click here.
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