Orjalo

The objectives of the study were to (1) measure the readability of articles obtained from the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Rappler and see which of them is more readable, (2) see which sections are more readable among sections inside each publication; and (3) know if news text-readability affects the news consumption of UP College of Mass Communication students. In the past, readability formulas were designed to predict readability of reading materials, and were applied to journalism articles. To apply the formula and find out whether readability of news texts affect the students’ news consumption, Reckstorf’s (1989) Social Action Model was modified to be fit the study. Quantitative in nature, the methodology was done in two parts. The first part was for article readability scoring, and the second was surveying for students’ news text preferences. It was found that PDI has more readable sections than Rappler, but more students subscribe to Rappler. It was also found that news text readability affects the way the students choose news texts and news sources.

Orjalo, C. (2013). To Read or Not To Read: A Quantitative Study on the Readability of Articles from the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Rappler, and Readability as a News Text Preference of UP CMC Students, Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication.

Keywords: Readability formulas, Readability, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Rappler, News source, Newspaper, Online news site

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