Russia is becoming less and less a reading country

Sociologist Denis Volkov talks about the results of the latest Levada Center study on the question of what the reading preferences of Russians are.

Judging by the results of a survey conducted by our center in September 2008, almost half of Russians (46%) today do not read books, about two-fifths (37%) do not read newspapers, and more than half (56%) never read magazines. The average Russian is more likely to be found watching television; he spends six times more time watching television than reading fiction (about 83% watch TV daily, 14% read).

Three quarters of Russians (75%) open a fresh newspaper at least once a week. Most often, this is some kind of local (regional or city) newspaper - from time to time such a publication is viewed by about 62% of the country's population (primarily representatives of older age groups, people without higher education and rural residents). Komsomolskaya Pravda is the only all-Russian publication that can claim any significant audience attention (32%). The remaining socio-political newspapers are much inferior in popularity to various tabloids. Young people, Muscovites, people with higher education and low incomes are in the lead in reading the entertainment, “yellow” press.

Russians are least interested in magazines compared to other printed products. Those who read them prefer publications for women (magazines like “Liza”, etc. with a small number of pages) - about a third (34%) of readers regularly turn to them, and magazines about TV, the indispensable attribute of which is the program programs for the next week (28% of readers). Neither specialized scientific periodicals (8%), nor “thin” socio-political magazines, such as “Ogonyok”, “Itogi” and “Vlast” (6%), nor gloss (“Esquire”, “ Poster”, etc.) with its 5%. Complete outsiders are “thick” magazines, whose popularity (about 1%) does not fall within the limits of statistical error. And in perestroika times they came out in multi-million copies.

The most active readers of magazines are women (11%), young people and Russians with higher education, residents of large cities (12% each, with an average of 9%). Muscovites are ahead of the rest of the country in reading socio-political magazines (15% versus 6% in the country as a whole). The most popular topics for magazine publications are health, fashion, entertainment, television, cinema and pop. Russians with higher education in adulthood (40-54 years old) living in medium-sized cities turn to popular science publications more often than others. For scientific periodicals - the same contingent, but younger (25-39 years old).

About 16% of Russians regularly read books, and this number is gradually declining. Women read more often than men, people with higher education more often than those with less education. Those whose home library contains over 500 books read 6.5 times more often than respondents who have few or no books at home.

According to the leading sociologists of the Levada Center, Boris Dubin and Natalya Zorka, in today’s Russia “read” means “read fiction.” At the same time, the range of reader interests is quite narrow. In the “rating” of literary genres, the “female” detective story is in the lead, chosen by 28% of readers. Second place is shared by Russian action films (24%) and historical adventure classics (23%). In third place are women's prose and romance novels (19%). At the end of the list are “glamorous” novels and poetry - 4% each.

There are differences in reading preferences depending on socio-demographic characteristics (gender, age, education, standard of living and place of residence of the respondent). For example, people with higher education stick to the classics, modern prose, poetry, but also “glamorous” novels. The youngest (18-24 year olds) read science fiction, mysticism, modern translated literature and “glamorous” prose. Women prefer “female” detective stories and romance novels.

In addition to fiction, Russians turn to books about health and treatment (24%), cookbooks (22%), books on their specialty (19%), advice for all occasions (16%) and educational literature (14%). Books on ethics, philosophy, world culture, wars and military technology, economics, accounting and law, as well as various dream books, books on magic and dream books are equally preferred by about 4% of Russians. But 23% of the reading public does not recognize anything other than works of fiction.

Among readers of nonfiction, group differentiation of preferences is poorly identified. Nevertheless, such books are most popular among women (cooking, health, home, etiquette), young people (specialized, “business”, educational, computer literature) and people with higher education (memoirs, books on the specialty and world culture).

When choosing a book to read, the vast majority of Russians are guided by the advice of friends and acquaintances (43%) or family members and relatives (19%). Others choose their own book in a store (21%) or simply buy what “caught their eye” (18%). The role of the school, library, and newspaper publications in the formation of reader interest today is minimal. The influence of the expert community in this matter tends to zero.

In general, the vast majority of Russians (77%) do not use libraries. Visiting the library today is primarily associated with education (school or university) or due to the lack of any other sources of literature (this is the case in small towns and rural areas). It is noteworthy that having a large home library does not mean losing interest in state and public libraries. In this group, the number of those who do not attend such institutions is noticeably lower than the all-Russian indicator - 67%.

Note:

The study was conducted by Levada Center in September 2008, commissioned by the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications. Brochure materials used: Dubin B.V., Zorkaya N.A. Reading in Russia-2008. Trends and problems. M. Interregional Center for Library Cooperation, 2008. Electronic version is available on the MCBS website ( http://www.mcbs.ru ).