The Not So Surprising Reaction to the Surprising Reading Facts Infographic

I think this graphic says more about our fears and frustrations regarding our country than anything else. I feel it's important to point out one thing. The graphic contains numbers related to reading books, an important activity for many of us. This, as opposed to, reading in general, which would include text messages and other printed statements. 

I found this graphic through a post from +Jeff Jockisch, who re-posted it from +Rheinallt Williams. It appears the graphic was originally posted by +Robb Brewer.

This was the original graphic I saw.

Pretty alarming right? Which is probably why it grabbed a lot of attention.

This is what +Robb Brewer said about the original graphic:

"According to a Jenkins Group Facebook post in 2011, the reading statistics are incorrectly attributed to the Jenkins Group. Apparently Jerrold Jenkins, owner and founder of the Jenkins Group, presented the observations to a group of small publishers using data from the Book Industry Study Group, American Book Sellers Institute, and US News and World Report. https://www.facebook.com/jenkinsgroup/posts/10151053968015564

A New York fundraiser who hosts a reading blog contacted the Jenkins Group to ask about their study. She discovered the company distances itself from the statistics; while they admit their owner, Jerrold Jenkins, presented the material, they never actually published the report. http://www.libereading.com/2012/04/in-which-i-execute-some-hard-hitting.html"

Here's the link to his original blog page: Surprising Reading Facts (Infographic)|Robb Brewer