Assessing the readability of a NYTimes.com excerpt.

This month, we examine a shorter passage from a June 25, 2011, NYTimes.com article ("Lessons in Communication, for Newspapers Themselves," by Bryan Burrough):

"The abysmal state of newspapers today has largely been precipitated by the loss of classified advertising to Craigslist and other online sites; by the mass migration of readers to free online news sites; and, to a degree I hadn't appreciated, the scandals in the early 2000s that revealed how thoroughly some newspapers had been misstating circulation numbers for years. Once those papers had to issue correct numbers, official circulations fell sharply, with a corresponding loss of credibility among major advertisers."

--Word count: 80
--Average sentence length: 40 words (59, 21)
--Words with 3+ syllables: 19 percent (15/80 words)
--Fog Index: (40+19)*.4 = 23 (no rounding)

This is one of the highest Fog Index scores we've encountered in our column. The clear culprit is the first sentence, which weighs in at a hefty 59 words. Let's see if we can bring the Fog score below 12.

"Newspapers today are in abysmal shape. First, they have lost classifieds to Craigslist and other websites. Readers have also flocked to free news websites to a degree I hadn't appreciated. The scandals of the early 2000s revealed just how much some newspapers had been misstating circulation numbers for years. Once those papers had to issue correct numbers, circulation totals fell sharply. As a result, they lost credibility with major advertisers."

--Word count: 70
--Average sentence length: 12 words (6, 10, 14, 19, 12, 9)
--Words with 3+ syllables: 13 percent (9/70 words)
--Fog Index: (12+13)*.4 = 10 (no rounding)

This was a tough sample to trim. The original version contained just two sentences, so we had to break them up into shorter, easier-to-digest portions. This required some rewriting. The end result: a Fog Index reduction of more than a half.

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