A STUDY OF THE NEWSPAPER READING HABITS OF MEMBERS OF THE DEBATERS’ CLUB OF OKUAPEMMAN SCHOOL

ABSTRACT This study sought to find out the newspaper reading habits of the debaters’ club of Okuapemman School, Akropong-Akuapem. Three theories, namely, the Uses and Gratification Theory, Dependency Theory and Sense-Making Theory; underpinned this qualitative study. Purposive sampling and convenient sampling techniques were used to select participants for the study. Observation, Semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions were used to obtain data for this study. In all, twelve (12) students of Okuapemman School were purposively and conveniently selected. Four (4) participants were interviewed and the eight (8) taken through the focus group discussion. The study revealed that members of the school’s debaters’ club had varied newspaper reading habits (styles). They engaged in silent reading when at the school’s library or may engaged in reading aloud if they had the opportunity to read newspapers outside the library or at home. Finally, the study showed that the students could not be described as habitual readers of newspapers so much efforts must be made to sensitize students on the importance of newspapers in education, and the need to develop good newspaper reading habits as well as overall reading.