How to Read a Newspaper

Reviewed by Gerald Posner

Last Updated: June 2, 2024 Fact Checked

The art of reading newspapers seems to be dying out as more potential readers turn to other sources for information, particularly Internet publications like blogs and opinion sites. Whether you're reading to find a connection to your community, for greater knowledge about world events, or to relax while enjoying a coffee, here is a good way to get into newspaper reading.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Reading the Newspaper

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Coffee shops, outdoor seating at restaurants, or your own easy chair are great places to settle in and enjoy reading your chosen paper. If you take the train to work, you can also read it there, on your way.
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Decide your reading purpose. If you’re reading relaxation or pleasure, then you’re approach might be less structured. If you’re looking for a specific topic or for reading practice, you’ll need to be more organized.
- Most English-language newspapers are written at range of reading levels, from about fifth grade to college level, so you should focus on the articles and sections that will probably fit your purpose. For example, the film reviews will be easier, and faster, reading, while reports on complicated economic topics might be more challenging and take more time.
- Reading a paper to practice a foreign language will help you learn about the issues that are important to speakers of that language and as well as to engage in the culture and learn new vocabulary.^{[1]
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Decide where you want to begin. After you’ve gotten a sense of the overall paper, choose the section or article that has caught your attention, based on your reading purpose. You might choose a headline article on the front page, or you might skip to another section and begin reading sports. Use the table of contents as your guide.
- The editorial section contains opinionated articles rather than strictly factual news, such as the “Opinion” section in the Detroit Free Press, which may offer editorial perspectives on universal healthcare or the War on Terror.^{[2]
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- The lifestyle section usually has stories about the arts and commerce. Forbes, for example, may have articles about new movies, popular car models, and travel ideas.^{[3]
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- The entertainment section includes movie and theater reviews, as well as interviews with authors and artists and information about art galleries and other local and national events. Similarly, the sports section will report box scores from sports currently in season, and may include personal stories about players, coaches, or issues in the athletic world, such as the concussion problem in the NFL.^{[4]
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Fold your paper so that you can read easily and comfortably. If you’re in a crowded space, like a train, fold your newspapers into quadrants for easier reading and less worry about bothering other people.^{[5]
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- You might find it easier to separate the various sections, usually marked by a letter, and deal with them one at a time, rather than trying to keep all of the pages in order.
- Folding a newspaper correctly is optional, although if you’re passing it on to another person, it’s courteous to put all of the sections back in place when you’re done.
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Preview the section you’ve chosen to read. Newspaper articles are usually written in an "inverted pyramid" structure, which means that the most significant information appears at the start of the story, rather than the end, followed by the details in order of importance. The first sentence, called the "lead" or "lede," is designed to catch readers' attention and provide the major details of the story to entice them to read further.^{[6]
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- Sidebars near significant stories offer analysis for understanding the "why" of the story. Read them first to have some context for the ideas.
- You can also read the articles’ subheadings or callout quotes, if available, for an overview of major topics and notable comments in the story.
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Choose the article that you want to read and begin. Read the first few paragraphs, as these will contain the primary points of the article, and you’ll be able to determine if you want to continue reading it. Read the rest of the article or move to a new one if you’ve lost interest or if it doesn’t provide any information that you find worthwhile.
- Don’t be afraid to jump to a new article or section if your purpose is satisfied or if you need a break from a difficult topic. For example, you may find reading too much about domestic violence is too distressing for a relaxing read, so you can decide to save an article about an upcoming domestic violence court case for later.
- Once you’ve finished with a section, you can set it aside as you find a new place to begin previewing and reading. By the time you’ve read all or most of the sections, you should feel a sense of satisfaction as you collect that new pile of papers for recycling or reuse.
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Determine your own opinion and note your own biases. When you're reading the editorial section, or the "op-ed" (opposite the editorial page), remember that you're reading the opinions of those writers, and not necessarily straight facts. Before you begin, you should read the article title to get an idea of the topic, and then take a moment to consider your own opinion first.
- Even though the news section is strictly informational, being aware of your own opinions and biases before reading those articles will help you to be more open minded about difficult topics.
- Try reading opinion pieces that are in opposition to your own views. Even if you don't agree, you might learn something new, whether it's a different way to defend your opinion, or a new perspective on the issue altogether.
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Connect your reading to your own life and other news sources. Even if you’re reading to relax, taking a moment to see the relationship between the articles you're reading and your own experiences or concerns can lead to a more enjoyable experience. Ask yourself: “Can I connect the ideas or events that I’m reading about to my own life and the other stories I’ve read about this topic?”^{[7]
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- Making connections between your TV news and Internet video clips and a printed newspaper will help you to become even more informed about the topic and engaged as a citizen.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Reading a Newspaper Quickly

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1
Decide how much of the newspaper you want to read. Sometimes, you may want to read a particularly long newspaper, like the Sunday edition, or you may have a requirement for a course in school. If you have limited time but you want to read the whole paper, your strategy will be different than if you need to read specific sections for an assignment.
- If you need or want to read the entire paper, but have only a small window of time, plan to use previewing and skimming strategies.
- If you have an assignment or a particular topic you're interested in reading about, then you'll be focused on the finding only the appropriate articles quickly and reading them carefully.
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Skim the headlines and pictures on all of the pages, one at a time. The front page section is the most valuable “real estate” in the paper, and the editors reserve it for the biggest or most popular stories. Reading the headlines will give you an idea of the most important happenings, either locally, nationally, or internationally, and the images are chosen to establish the central or most interesting idea in a given story.
- This overview should take about three minutes, and you'll have a better idea of where you want to start.
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Start on the first page. The most important story, by long newspaper tradition, should appear at the top right of the front page. The second-most important story will appear at the top left. Also, editors use larger type for "bigger" stories.
- Checking the table of contents, if you're looking for a particular topic, section, or article, will save you time, since you won't have to search the newspaper blindly.
- Some newspapers include mini-headlines at the very top of the page to catch readers' attention for stories in interior sections of the paper, such as sports or entertainment.<
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Read the first paragraphs of the articles. Each time you begin a new article, read just the first paragraph or two. Newspaper articles always start with a "lede" or "lead," which contains the most important information. The rest of the article fills out the story with details, in order of importance. If you're reading efficiently, the first paragraph should give you enough information for a general understanding of the topic.
- If something in an article catches your attention, keep reading, but be ready to move on if your curiosity is satisfied.
- If you're reading for an assignment, use the lede to help you set up your summary notes, as it's the "Main Idea" of the passage. Articles should answer the questions: "Who? What? Where? How?," so use those questions to structure your notes, if necessary.
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Read every article in a section. If an article in full contains a "jump line," or instructions to continue the story on another page, complete that story on the new page, and then return to the original section to continue reading. Avoid starting on the new page and possibly wasting time later trying to remember which articles you'd forgotten to read in earlier sections.
- You can also simply skim all of the articles, especially if you're in a hurry but want to get a snapshot of the main ideas.
- If you're reading for an assignment, or if you have a particular subject of interest, you can also scan all of the articles for key words of your topic. You can then read just those articles more carefully.
If you have space and want the encouragement that you're reading at a good pace, setting the completed sections aside will provide you with a tangible reminder of your accomplishments.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Choosing a Newspaper to Read

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1
Choose a local newspaper if you want more community engagement. Local newspapers, both dailies and weeklies, can connect you to your community’s residents, politics, and happenings, and will be written by local writers with a vested interest in your area. These papers tend to have more reporter-initiated stories rather than mostly stories based on national news, which means they’re more proactive and less “reactive” in nature.^{[8]
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- Some local news are daily, while others are weekly or bi-weekly. Weekly newspapers will be even more community-centered, since they have more time to fully develop and research local stories.
- Local newspapers will employ not only writers from your community, but they will also use community members as sources, and so you may find the stories even more relevant to your own life.
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Choose a national newspaper if you want wider coverage of national issues. National news outlets, such as USA Today or The Guardian, will include stories with wider appeal, but many of the stories will be wire-service pieces, such as those from the Reuters or the Associate Press (AP). They’ll include information on national weather trends and major political stories, and they’re more likely to have a significant online presence.
- Some very large metro-area newspapers, such as The LA Times or the Chicago Tribune, can be a good blend of local news stories and significant national coverage.
- National news outlets may offer more perspectives on many issues, as their staff writers might be located throughout the country, rather than in a single city.
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Choose an international or foreign paper to discover new perspectives. International newspaper outlets can provide you with a new look at familiar issues or a chance to learn about a different culture. The newspapers of each country or region present their stories from the viewpoint of its culture, highlighting the values and positive attributes of that area of the world. If you read critically, you can pay attention to that bias, as well as your own, and gain a new understanding of the truth of a story.^{[9]
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- Some bias exists in popular newspapers, such as Russia Today and the Australian Associated Press, reporting on war and conflicts, primarily through either overreporting or underreporting of violence. Other issues arise from oversimplification of complicated national and international issues.^{[10]
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Decide if you want to read a physical newspaper or an online version. If you want the top stories, with up-to-the minute information and links to other perspectives on the same issues, try a digital newspaper edition. For possibly more in-depth coverage, including more editorializing or responses from other readers such as letters to the editor, go for print.^{[12]
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- Not all local papers will have comparable online coverage. For instance, the Community Impact News in Texas, includes only some stories on their website, though they have enormous local print circulation.^{[13]
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- Some newspapers, particularly national and international papers, will charge a subscription fee for online access. For example, the New York Times charges from $1.88-$8.75 a week for a subscription, depending on your level of access.
- Some online news sites, even those with print editions, may use inadequate research and intentionally misleading tactics to encourage traffic to their sites.^{[14]
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Choose a newspaper that presents the news honestly and the opinions separately. Newspapers are a mix of factual news and opinionated editorials. A news reporter should offer as many validated and researched facts as available, and an editorial should be clearly marked in a particular section of the paper. Check for credible sources and inappropriate stereotypes in headlines and stories.^{[16]
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- Ask yourself: “Who is telling the story?” If a story about the economy focuses on stockbrokers instead of the everyday people affected by a recession, the newspaper may not only be biased, but also out of touch with its readers.^{[18]
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- Find out more about the editorial staff and writers. Do they represent the diversity of the community that they serve? If not, then the stories may show further evidence of bias, particularly on coverage of news on parts of the community not represented at the paper.

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How do I read a newspaper quickly online?

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Go to the website of your favorite newspaper and scan the headlines for important info.

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How do I ask questions about the news?

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Old school journalism taught to cover Who, What, Why, When and Where. As the news is a part of journalism, you can apply this as a guide.

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How do I hold a newspaper?

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Put one hand on each side of the newspaper and hold in front of you.

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Don't be afraid to read your paper in your own way, such as cutting out the most interesting articles to read later, or reading from back to front.^{[19]
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Reuse your newspaper by passing it on to a friend, recycling the paper, or reusing it for another purpose.

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No need to read everything deeply. Pay attention to your purpose and the genre: Newspapers are simpler and cover the basics of most issues, and are a good place to an overview of perspectives and topics.

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