Thomas Jefferson once said that you can’t have a functioning democracy without a free press. Reading a newspaper, writing to a newspaper and understanding the value of a free press is an essential part of civics education today. And, by reading the newspaper, students get a real-world look at government structures, citizen rights and responsibilities and how policy is made.

According to political scientist Martin P. Wattenberg in his book, “Where have all the voters gone?” the single best indicator of whether a person votes is whether he reads a newspaper.