The mass media are divided into two vast categories: print media and electronic media. Even though the role of electronic media is expanding, print media’s gravity is persistent from the beginning. Print media has been delivering many crucial responsibilities in all fields of learning especially in education for the past five centuries. They provide abundant reading materials, in a way advancing educational opportunities and fostering literacy to a significant extent.
Newspapers, magazines and books comprise the three most important representatives of print media. They are widely used in classrooms and their daily activities since these can be easily accessed and students can easily contribute to the collection of these materials. The main objective of print media is to inform and entertain the readers but on the other hand, it also improves language in general and reading skills in particular. Print media develops curiosity and love for reading in students. Newspapers and magazines not only meet the readers’ need for information but also keep their interest in reading intact. This overwhelming impact of print media made people learn how to read and as literacy grew people turned to education and universities to further it.
Students are less motivated to read course books and this situation brings a lot of challenges to the trainers who train students how to read. Therefore, print media can be an effective source of motivation for students. Text books alone are insufficient for successful reading development and therefore, plenty of supporting reading materials can be used for reading skills. The main concern in a language lesson is about teaching the structure and grammar of a language whereas in a reading lesson, the teacher’s main interest would be the student’s reading skills which would in turn improve their language skills.
Print media creates interest among readers. The factor of interest is very important because reading skills can be improved only if the student takes interest. Textbooks consist of fixed, rigid and monotonous reading content which print media doesn’t. The reading material of magazines and newspapers can bridge the gap to overcome this problem because they contain a lot of entertaining and interesting information. Popular print media use various devices such as clever titles and short paragraphs to catch and hold the attention of its readers.
Similarly, being a rich source of entertainment, print media removes boredom from classrooms. Experts recommend encouraging students to read sports and comics who otherwise do not read. Textbooks provide limited reading material since it is based on an academic point of view. On the other hand, the wide variety of reading materials makes it easy to choose the appropriate reading notes. In addition to that, they use pictures and illustrations to raise interest and motivation among students towards reading.
Print media enables students to make it a habit to read new things by providing them with interesting and entertaining resources. Widely used in classroom atmospheres, print media encourages students to do extensive reading unlike the traditional textbooks.