What Is the Reading Level of The New York Times?

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The New York Times in School program states that the newspaper’s reading level varies by article. It urges teachers using the Times as an educational tool to choose articles for students by using the subject matter to dictate the reading level.

According to Adam Sherk, Enterprise SEO and PR consultant, Google ranks the New York Times as the second highest percentage of advanced reading content of all news websites and printed editions, at 7 percent. The Times rates just after Bloomberg BusinessWeek, which contains 11 percent advanced reading material. Conversely, Sherk notes that the ABC News website contained the highest volume of basic reading level content at 41 percent, according to Google statistics.