It used to be a pretty well-known guideline that any writing for general consumption should be at no higher than an 8th grade level.

Well then I think 8th grade level must have been higher in the past than it is today.

My local paper (basically a reprint of Gannett stories with a few local ones, mostly sports) tends to use a very basic vocabulary, often organizes stories as a set of questions/answers, or bullet point lists under a "What you need to know about..." headline.

When I think back to newspapers I read in high school (1980s) or even in the 1990s they weren't written at that low a level.