Evaluation of Newspaper Reading Habits of Youths in Anambra State, Nigeria

This article examines newspaper reading habits of youths in Anambra State, Nigeria. The study aims at ascertaining the newspapers that youths in Anambra State read most, the frequency of their readership of newspapers, the type of stories they mostly read and the ways through which they obtain the newspapers they read. The study uses quantitative research technique. It adopts a sample size of 300 youths, purposively drawn from Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi. The survey is anchored on the Uses and Gratification theory of the mass media. The paper employs the simple percentage method and frequency tables as analytical tools. Findings of the study show that youths in Anambra State read newspapers a lot and that The Sun, The Guardian, Complete Sports and The Vanguard are the newspapers they mostly read. Findings also reveal that sports, political and economic news are the major stories the youths read and that they obtain the newspapers they read mainly by going to newspaper stands (to read without paying) browsing newspapers with their cell phones, borrowing from friends and neighbours and by visiting the public library. The paper concludes that most youths in Anambra State do not buy newspapers they read and recommends massive empowerment of youths by the government through provision of employment and other poverty alleviation strategies to enable them buy newspapers. Key words: Newspaper, Reading, Habits, Evaluation, Youths, Anambra Stat