Lichter Questions 'USA Weekend' Teen Survey

By: Charles Geraci Last Sunday, USA Weekend released the results of its annual teen survey, which this year focused on newspaper readership -- certainly a hot topic these days. With over 65,000 responses from young people, aged 13 to 18, the magazine delivered what appeared to be great news for the press: America's teenagers are reading newspapers and nearly three out of four consider them "relevant" to their lives, contrary to commonly held perceptions in this Internet age.

In a companion story, Nicholas Lemann, dean of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, wrote that the "large, if unscientific" survey indicates that "Newspapers have established a substantial beachhead in today's teen culture."

But Robert Lichter, president of the Center for Media and Public Affairs in Washington, isn't buying it. "Whoa! Was that 'large, if unscientific'? As in a non-random sample that isn't representative of any larger population?" Lichter asked. "So this impressive-sounding group of 65,000 teens don't speak for anyone but themselves."

He pointed out that the respondents were self-chosen, filling out forms at home or visiting a Web site, leading to a large if skewed sample -- for example, 61% were female. It is also possible that some younger than 13 or older than 18 participated.

While treading lightly on the survey results, Lemann wrote in his article that the "wondrous variety in readers' interactions with the newspaper gives rise to qualified optimism about the relationship between newspapers and America's teens."

To which Lichter responded, "Actually, it gives rise to barely qualified pessimism that this article was written by the dean of the Columbia Journalism School."

USA Weekend's top editor, Jack Curry, defended the story on Tuesday. "We are reporting a snapshot of teens based on those who chose to respond to the survey," said Curry, the magazine's executive editor and vice president. "We are not extrapolating. We are not generalizing. We did not cook these numbers."

Curry called it "an interesting, alternative form of opinion-gathering used by many outlets -- including everything from 'American Idol' to Lou Dobbs. It is not our intent for the reader to look at the data and draw conclusions."

In his blistering critique, however, Lichter says the magazine does draw conclusions, such as declaring in bold type that teens find newspapers "relevant and reliable." Lemann, he observed, "notes that the study is unscientific and then generalizes for several hundred words as if this makes no difference."

Asked about the USA Weekend study, and how its results may diverge from other research, a Newspaper Association of America official declined comment, explaining that the group's own survey on this subject will be released this coming Tuesday.

Among the magazine's partners in this study were the NAA Foundation and the American Society of Newspaper Editors.