Findings from a 1971-72 North Carolina statewide survey focusing on the newspaper nonreader were compared with results from a similar statewide survey taken in 1961-62 in Wisconsin. Although there were limits to how precisely the two sets of data could be compared, the findings demonstrated that the type of person who chose not to read a newspaper then is the same today. The comparison also provides reasonable evidence that the number of certain kinds of people who choose not to read newspapers is growing. The study suggests that newspapers can react to this development by a more indepth approach to topics of interest to those who find newspapers most useful, generally readers who are urban, well-educated, and of middle age. (TO)