Newspapers show top-class appeal

Reading newspapers at the back of the classroom won’t be frowned on in some schools any more as thousands of students will soon take part in a major initiative to encourage them to read a daily title while also improving their literacy skills.

The “Press Pass” project will see main national titles and regional newspapers being delivered free to 14,000 transition year students across 250 schools over a two-week period.

Students will also be provided with a “Press Pass” workbook to facilitate a critical analysis of the various components and styles of news reportage.

The initiative by the National Newspapers of Ireland, of which the Irish Examiner is a member, in conjunction with the Department of Education is designed to give students a better idea of how newspapers operate as well as how they can be used as an educational resource.

Launching the project, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn said it was an excellent idea which would benefit students on a number of levels.

NNI chairman, Matt Dempsey of the Farmers’ Journal said newspapers still held many advantages as a source of news despite competition from digital media.

He emphasised how newspapers were collated from “reputable sources by reputable people and put down in print in a way that could be absorbed easily and at a pace that suits the reader.”

“This initiative is a way to get credible, well-written press into young people’s hands if they hadn’t been exposed to that as a daily experience at home,” said Mr Dempsey.

Students who participate in the project will also be able to enter a national writing competition with winning entries set to be published across all NNI titles in early 2013.

NNI coordinating director Frank Cullen said newspaper readership remained strong with 5 million NNI titles being bought each week, while almost 70% of 15 to 18-year-olds regularly read a newspaper.