EARLIEST USE OF NEWSPAPERS IN SCHOOLS

The earliest documentation on the idea of using newspapers in classrooms is an article published June 8, 1795, in the Portland (Maine) Eastern Herald. Here is an excerpt from that article:

"Much has been said and written on the utility of newspapers; but one principal advantage which might be derived from these publications has been neglected; we mean that of reading them in schools, and by the children in families. Try it for one session — do you wish your child to improve in reading solely, give him a newspaper ... do you wish him to have a smattering of every kind of science useful and amusing, give him a newspaper ... because every part furnishes valuable information."

Today, The Seattle Times newspapers and curricula are used to support a vast majority of classrooms including journalism, science, social studies, ESL and career planning.

(Quoted in Editor & Publisher, 1984)