The NEA said that less people are reading it, so what do they say it is?

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).

But really what they asked, according to one of the questions, is “read any book” or “read literature.” I don’t read a lot of literature (although I read lots of novels). So would I have brought it down? No. I teach literature so I also read literature.

It [the survey information] comes at a critical time, when electronic media are becoming the dominant influence in young people’s worlds. Reading at Risk adds new and distressing information to the discussion…. If one believes that active and engaged readers lead richer intellectual lives than non-readers and that a well-read citizenry is essential to a vibrant democracy, the decline of literary reading calls for serious action.

They offer the information that the survey “comes at a …time when electronic media are becoming the dominant influence in young people’s worlds.” But they don’t survey how much reading the person is doing on the net? What’s up with that?

According to Pew, 40 million Americans get their info on news and science on the net. So can we add them in as readers? I know there are pod casts, but most of the internet is still reading.