What is NIE?

NIE, the acronym for Newspaper in Education, is the name of an educational partnership between the newspaper industry and participating school systems.

To our knowledge, NIE programs were first introduced in the 1930s. Today, in some thirty countries there are programs and activities for preschool through college and beyond.

Schools may use newspapers at all grade levels to teach a variety of subjects -- history, reading, social science, maths, economics, composition, journalism and government, to name a few.

Outside the school walls, NIE programs can be found in prisons, senior citizen centers, institutions for the physically and mentally challenged and language classes for new residents from other countries.

WAN and NIE

WAN set up a permanent Young Reader Committee in April 1991 in response to the growing need for a global exchange of information and views on questions concerning the use of newspapers in education (NIE) and the general effort to encourage young people to become newspaper readers. Committee members are newspaper publishers and other managers with an interest in young readers, or the NIE coordinators of newspaper publishers associations.

Projects of this Committee have included a permanent exchange of information, about young reader initiatives and newspapers in education projects, publication of a World Survey of NIE and young reader programmes (five editions), publications of an Newsletter and, since 1993, the organisation every two years of a World Young Reader Conference.

The Mission Statement of the Young Reader Committee is as follows:

The WAN Young Reader Committee exists to encourage the culture of reading newspapers through the establishment and development of young reader projects and Newspaper in Education programmes around the world. Such programmes should promote analytical reading skills and an appreciation of the rôle of the newspaper in a democratic society.

A major task of the Committee is to help participating countries further develop the concern and awareness of the newspaper industry in the importance of NIE activities and other activities for ensuring future readers.

The Committee seeks ways of addressing issues such as:
   the exchange of ideas and information.
   how ideas can be applied to different countries and cultures.
   the collecting and encouragement of research; the promotion of collaboration and dissemination.
   seeking greater acceptance of young reader activities and the NIE concept around the world.
   ensuring that all NIE initiatives have educational validity.
   representing WAN before international organizations dealing with media and education.
   co-ordinating young reader and NIE activities internationally.