Survey Finds Reading Newspapers for 3 Months Boosts Teenagers’ Trust in Media; Research Conducted by Waseda University, SmartNews

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:34 JST, October 2, 2025

First-year junior high school students who were not accustomed to reading newspapers saw improved trust in the outlets after reading them at school from April to July, according to the results of substantiative research released Wednesday.

SmartNews Media Research Institute and Waseda University Prof. Tetsuro Kobayashi distributed newspapers daily to 91 first-year students at Misasa Junior High School in Toda, Saitama Prefecture, on weekdays during the period to learn how reading newspapers affects trust in media.

Concurrently, the institute gave a lecture on information literacy at each class. During the research period, students filled out four monthly questionnaires, and the results were compared with those at another municipal junior high school where newspapers were not delivered.

In the questionnaire, students rated how trustworthy they found news from print newspapers or online outlets on a five-point scale: 5 for “very trustworthy” to 1 for “not trustworthy at all.” Students who did not read the distributed papers were asked to rate based on their general views.

Before receiving newspapers, 34% of the students at the Misasa school gave ratings of either 5 or 4 in April, but the percentage rose to 59% by July — meaning that on average ratings rose from 3.14 points in April to 3.61 in July.

Conversely, the same survey at the school where newspapers were not distributed saw only a small rise, with ratings percentages increasing from 41% to 44%, and the average rating up from 3.30 to 3.39.

Kobayashi called the increase at Misasa was “significant” compared to the other school. “Having the younger generations read newspapers and understand how they are produced is important to alleviate the distrust directed at mass media online,” he said.

Misasa school dedicates 10 minutes each Tuesday and Thursday morning to Newspapers in Education (NIE) activities. During the survey period, students read newspapers, circled articles that interested them and took them home. These efforts likely encouraged active newspaper reading.