Someone in this warren of data mongers _must_ have some estimates in response to the following questions:
1. How many people in the U.S. subscribe to one or more daily newspapers?
2. What are the estimates as to what proportion of subscribers read the whole of news stories (especially when continued beyond the first page?
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Readership numbers are fairly easy to come by although most information seems focused (unsurprisingly) on marketing concerns.
See -
http://www.naa.org/artpage.cfm?AID=1468&SID=1113
Regarding how deeply readers read...
I don't know and don't know who would gather this information since most readership polls, surveys and stats are gathered for the purpose of target marketing. Interest in the depth of readers' plunge into articles isn't on the scanner scope for most owners - the folks paying for the stats.
Even so, I believe it's typical for simplified versions of the facts to make their way into the national stream. That is, most folks may not know the full details of a given story but still have the major points in mind (television, word-of-mouth and the net play large roles here I believe). For example, David Kay's full report has not been read by most, but the core idea - no weapons - is on the tip of a multitude of tongues.
The same may be true of the media's baby-steps towards skepticism regarding the Rove engineered image of Bush. The full details may not be at everyone's command but the fact questions are being asked and the administration is beginning to scramble seems to be wafting into the air.
I see evidence of this everyday amongst my peers at work - almost none of whom are political in any deeply considered way. I witnessed Rumsfeld go from middle aged, suburban White guy culture hero to 'that jackass' in a matter of months.
This wasn't the result of a careful review of the facts but some more difficult to track movement of information, ideas and opinions. Of course, this works both ways, permitting the endurance of wrong ideas as well.
DRM