WXYZ Tackles Adult Illiteracy

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., Sept. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- What if you couldn't read the names on street signs?  What if you couldn't read the labels in the grocery store?  What would your world be like?  September is National Literacy Month and a good time to ask these questions.

As part of its ongoing partnership with Reading Works, WXYZ-TV is pleased to announce its latest effort to help solve the adult literacy crisis in metro Detroit. 

During the week of September 17^th on 7 Action News, WXYZ will present a series of Detroit 2020 reports on the project.  Scheduled stories include: a look at the daily challenges facing those who are functionally illiterate; identifying help that is available to those who can't read well; a look at what it takes to become a volunteer; and what community leaders are doing to address the problem.

Nearly half of all adults in the city of Detroit read below a fifth grade level.  In Wayne County, the figure is closer to 36%, and Macomb and Oakland are at about 13% and 15%, respectively.  Throughout the State of Michigan, one in three adults reads below a sixth grade level.  Consequently, Reading Works has joined forces with a network of literary agencies with proven track records to raise the level of adult literacy in metro Detroit.

WXYZ's partnership with Reading Works is part of Detroit 2020, Channel 7's decade-long, multi-platform, community service initiative designed to make Detroit a better place to live, work and raise families by the year 2020.

Detroit 2020 is committed to bringing positive changes to Detroit.  Since its launch in 2011, Detroit 2020 has presented more than 200 stories and special programs on topics including education, race and transportation.

WXYZ-TV is owned by E.W. Scripps.  Scripps is a leading media enterprise that embraces its rich history in delivering high-quality journalism through television stations, newspapers and the Scripps Howard News Service, while developing and expanding its digital strategies, including social gaming, for multiple platforms. The company provides community-changing breaking news, story-telling, investigations and interactive outreach at 19 television stations in major markets such as Denver, San Diego, Detroit, Phoenix, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Tampa, and 13 newspaper markets, including Memphis, Knoxville, Naples, Fla., and Corpus Christi, Texas. Since 1941, Scripps has operated the National Spelling Bee, one of America's most-enduring celebrations of academic excellence.

SOURCE WXYZ-TV