Preaching to the choir? An analysis of newspaper readability vis-a-vis public literacy

Abstract

This study examined the interplay among readability, literacy, story type, and demographics in regard to the complexity of local newspaper content. Literacy data were derived from the US Census Bureau’s 2014 American Community Survey and readability data were derived from a content analysis of a random sample of 400 county level newspaper articles in Texas. Readability was measured dually by the Flesch–Kincaid grade reading level and the Flesch reading ease scale. On average, the news articles were written at an 11.63 grade level and a 47.78 ease level. With a 77 percent high school attainment level among residents in the population under study, these readability levels mean that the news articles were written at a level marginally comprehensible to a majority of potential readers. Additionally, business news was written at a 12.32 grade level making it even less comprehensible to a majority of potential readers. Hard news was the second most complex story type with an 11.98 grade level. Overall, residents age 65 and over had the lowest comprehension threshold, despite being the most likely to read newspapers on a daily basis. The author also discusses the implications to local news readability.

Liberals lecture, conservatives communicate: Analyzing complexity and ideology in 381,609 political speeches

“…In addition to education research, Flesch-Kincaid measures have been used in various others fields of study for a wide variety of research questions. In journalism research, a recent study shows that newspaper articles tend to be so complex that they are hardly understandable for a majority of readers [37]. Political scientists have found that people are less likely to vote on ballots that have more complex language [38].…”

Assessing the Readability of Policy Documents on the Digital Single Market of the European Union

“…Even if their validity is questioned, as can be done on many grounds, there is still a comparative viewpoint supporting the conclusion of overall complexity. For instance, local newspapers in the United States have been observed to attain values around 12 at maximum [38]. Another comparative example would be abstracts in psychology papers for which values around 17 have been reported [39].…”

Easy to read, easy to judge: Assessing readability as a heuristic for credibility in news

“…This study set out to show that audiences valued comprehensibility as a factor of credibility perception; however, the results here indicate that is not the case. In his study of media literacy, Wasike (2018) calls for use of automated readability tests as part of the editing process so as to make the news more engaging and less discouraging for readers, suggesting that difficult-to-read content might be exacerbating supposed declines in written news credibility and trust. To the contrary, this study suggests that might not be the case.…”