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November 21, 2008 8:53:11 PM CST

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8 Stories

 Interviewers Let 
 Palin Off the 
 Hook: Couric 

Couric wonders why Palin wouldn't answer reading question

Gawker Gawker Nov 20, 08 9:37 CST
(Newser) - Sarah Palin’s non-answer to Katie Couric’s question about what periodicals she reads still has the CBS anchor puzzled. Couric visited with David Letterman last night, and he quizzed her about why post-election interviewers haven’t asked the VP wannabe about her non-response, Gawker reports. Meanwhile, Letterman has a theory: “She was afraid of offending people who don’t read.” More »

More about:  Election 2008 • Sarah Palin • politics • campaign • David Letterman • Katie Couric • literacy

OPINION

Laura Bush's Feminist Agenda Is Anything
but Demure

First lady quietly used her clout for every lady

Washington Post Washington Post Oct 29, 08 8:49 CDT
(Newser) - You don’t hear much about Laura Bush, probably because her “demure librarian-teacher persona has minimized her appeal,” but women around the world owe a lot to the first lady, writes Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post . Bush has campaigned for breast cancer awareness in the Middle East, championed the women of genocide-torn Rwanda, and campaigned for women’s literacy, convinced, in Parker’s words, that “women, not men will save the world.” More »

More about:  breast cancer • feminism • Aung San Suu Kyi • first lady • Laura Bush • Bush legacy • literacy

Glossies

 Death of Reading 
 Greatly Exaggerated 

Author Eggers pooh-poohs skeptical pundits, says it's 'as alive as ever'

Esquire Esquire Sep 29, 08 4:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - Our bleak outlook on the future of reading owes itself to a doomsday reflex, the pervasive belief that things are bound to get worse, author Dave Eggers writes in Esquire . "It must be true, we think—just yesterday I saw some kid on the bus, and he wasn't reading a book!" But "few if any of these dire assumptions … are born out by any proof whatsoever." More »

More about:  book • Children's books • reading • youth • literacy • publishing industry • Dave Eggers

Depressed Dads Make Kids
Less Literate

Sad fathers don't read as much to babies, whose vocabs suffer

USA Today USA Today May 7, 08 1:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - About 10% of new fathers show signs of clinical depression—a rate twice that of other men—and that can have a noticeable effect on their children, an American Psychiatric Association study finds. Sad dads interact less with their progeny, which means less bedtime reading and a smaller vocabulary by age 2, reports USA Today . More »

More about:  parenting • depression • reading • infant • toddler • literacy • fatherhood • vocabulary

Eating Isn't Only Healthy Benefit of Family Dinner

Structured, deep interaction at meals yields adjusted kids

NPR NPR Feb 7, 08 1:18 PM CST
(Newser) - Studies in the 1990s showed that regular family dinners made kids less likely to do drugs, smoke or have psychological problems, but a closer look now finds that it's what goes on during those meals—strong verbal interaction, parents showing interest in their children—that really counts in the youngsters' health and development, NPR reports. More »

More about:  family • reading • literacy

Survey: Minneapolis the Most Literate US City

Researchers looked at 69 major metropolitan areas

LiveScience LiveScience Dec 29, 07 6:25 CST
(Newser) - New York may be the US city with the most literary pretensions, but the nation's most literate city it's not, a new survey finds. Minneapolis takes the honors as most literate large metropolitan area in a Central Connecticut State University survey reported in LiveScience. The nine runners-up are, in order: Seattle, St. Paul, Denver, Washington, DC, St. Louis, San Francisco, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Boston. More »

More about:  Internet • Minneapolis • publishing • libraries • literacy

Is Our Children Reading?

No, and neither are teenagers and adults, new study finds

Boston Globe Boston Globe Nov 19, 07 12:46 PM CST
(Newser) - As far as young people are concerned, books are so 20th century. Reading's popularity has fallen as gadgets have taken over modern life, according to a new National Endowment for the Arts report. Only a third of high school seniors read at a proficient level. “And proficiency is not a high standard,” the NEA’s chairman told the Boston Globe . “We’re talking about reading the daily newspaper.” More »

More about:  children • book • reading • literacy • National Endowment for the Arts

India Short On Skilled Workers

Despite the tech boom, a third of the country
is still illiterate

New Yorker New Yorker Apr 9, 07 10:42 CDT
(Newser) - Why is India short on skilled labor when it's teeming with Ph.D.s? While the staggering growth of its tech industry seems to have put the country in the running for the world’s next superpower, James Surowiecki observes that the Bengal tiger could be made of paper. Thirty per cent of the country is still illiterate. Only 10 percent go to college. More »

More about:  India • education • globalization • labor • tech industry • literacy

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