I often open the newspaper and wonder why I never see words more than eight or nine letters. Sentences longer than 15 words? Out of the question. It seems like I’m back in middle school – reading at a sixth-grade level.So, why do the media write at a lower level? Do they really think we have the mind capacity of an adolescent? Oops, I can’t use that word; it’s 10 letters. Mindy Mizell, a freelance journalist in Washington, D.C., believes that since most people talk and listen at a sixth-grade level, writing at a higher level would come across as fake and removed. But John Miller, a journalism professor at TCU, says the media don’t write at a sixth grade level – they write to their audiences.Perhaps another reason the media write at a lower level is so people can understand it more easily – but essentially, the reason is so that readers and viewers don’t have to think or work in order to get their news. I personally don’t mind a little work here and there; it keeps a person’s mind from atrophying. (Get out that dusty old dictionary and look up that word instead of my spoon-feeding you the meaning.) But is the newspaper meant to be mental bubble gum, or the 10 o’clock news a lullaby? I can see that being the purpose of a television sitcom. You’re supposed to sit and relax when watching those shows, not decipher convoluted sentences. If the media wrote at a higher level, I believe readers and viewers would become more acquainted with the multifarious words. However, John Tisdale, a journalism professor at TCU, says the media would likely lose readership and viewership if they wrote at higher levels.I remember that when I was in elementary school, my mom made me read “classic” books so I would become a prodigious writer. Whenever I didn’t know what something meant, she made me look it up in the dictionary. I learned more by reading at a higher level.Maybe if the media adopted my mother’s worldview and forced their readers and viewers to associate with obfuscating words, then reading the paper or watching the news would become a complete learning experience. The general public would be both updating themselves on current events and familiarizing themselves with a few more words in the American lexicon. I think the media should raise the bar in their writing. We’re not dumb, and I don’t think the media should treat us like we are. I think that with a little practice and a slight boost from the media, we could become quite dexterous at understanding word usage.Christina Durano is a freshman broadcast journalism major from Albuquerque, N.M.