Mass Communication

The New Media Age End of the Written Word?

People in the developed world are spending less time reading books and more time interacting with visual media—television, podcasts, and video games—than ever before. According to the National Assessment of Education, the proportion of 17-year-olds who read for enjoyment “almost every day” fell from 31% to 22% between 1984 and 2004. Meanwhile, television watching continues to rise about 3% a year, and almost 87% of kids aged 8 to 17 now have a video-game player in their home. What do these evolving trends mean for the future? In this special section, Mind Set! author John Naisbitt, along with Michael Rogers, William Crossman, Edward N. Luttwak, Joe Lambert, Peter Wagschal, and Christine Rosen explore what our emerging visual culture means for the written word and the future of civilization.

— Patrick Tucker, assistant editor

IMAGES COURTESY OF KATJA DE BRUIJN-GOVORUSHCHENKO / ISTOCKPHOTO.COM / PHOTOS.COM

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