Newspapers are written to the 3rd grade reading level

Newspapers are written to the 3rd grade reading level and not just for numbers.

A high school journalism student told me that the editor of the local paper told his class the paper assumes the average reading ability in their target audience is at a 3rd grade reading level. That would explain a lot.

There are some interesting resources to help with choosing a reading level. The best writing is said to be aimed at a 4th grade reading level.

The goal is to simplify the text to the lowest possible level, "without sacrificing meaning".

Oddly, another says that those with a reading level below the 5th grade lack "language fluency to make good use of written materials."

The White House writes its press releases at the same level as Nickelodean childrens TV network. Which is just one grade level (4th) below the NY Times (5th). Press releases are aimed at journalists, of course.

Apparently many newspapers (not all) are aiming their product at a consumer group (barely literate) who probably do not read the paper.

I ran an online readability algorithm on this web page and calculated this page at a 6th grade reading level.