Magazine Analysis

   In a 100 word excerpt from The New York Times Upfront, the passage contained 5 sentences as well as 153 syllables. According to the Fry Readability Graph, 5 sentences and 153 syllables places the magazine at a 15 year old reading level. I believe that this is a perfect characterization of the magazine's readability, because it is meant for a teen audience. A 15 year old reading level is exactly what the writers of the magazine targeted for teens want. Throughout The New York Times Upfront, there are several pages of advertisement. However, the balance of content pages to advertisement pages is heavily in favor of content. I think that the editors left the reader with more than a favorable amount of content compared to many magazines of today. With only a few pages of advertisement thrown in with a magazine full of pages on informative content for the reader to enjoy, the magazine did a great job balancing the ratio of content pages to its advertisements.
   Out of 5 students at my table, four students' articles were measured at a 15 year old reading level, including mine. The 5th student's article came out to a 10 year old reading level. This discrepancy could be attributed to the specific 100 word excerpt that each student chose, but more likely should be attributed to the fact that the 5th students magazine was a Boston Red Sox preseason flyer from 2008. Each magazine was directed at completely different audiences, but 4 of 5 were measured at a 15 year old reading level. This leads to the conclusion that a mid-teen reading level is where most magazines are directed at, most likely to widen the target audience of the magazines. The average reader of The New York Times Upfront is a teenager, anywhere from 13-18 years of age. They are most likely an intelligent, curious young person eager to learn about the government and news of today, but not at the reading level of the New York Times and therefore searching for a news magazine more directed to their reading level. The reader could easily be male or female, but it most likely of good economic standing because this magazine is not an incredibly easily found one.