Maybe the problem with a lot of writing is not the writing or the writer. Perhaps it is the reader. In English, written communication now includes a great many acronyms and short, semi-literate bursts of prose. Much of the time, the message is read while doing other things, half-understood, semi-recalled, garbled in the mind and mostly forgotten.
Oh, yeah... right... that was... uh... oh, I'm supposed to meet Whachamacallithisherface.
As for books, many of these current "readers" demand a book make sense to them with no effort on their part.
It used to be called comprehension.
Do you comprehend what you are reading? Does the "average" mass media consumer comprehend subtext? Must the content be completely obvious?
Is that why genres are so popular? Gimme a sexy vampire or several, a cop/doctor/lawyer, a gun, a bad guy/gal, some cars/boats/planes/motorbikes, crashes/fires/beatings, some magical horseshit, a hackneyed mystery, a multifarious plot and these are the semaphores, the semiotic markers that the "masses" of mass market fame comprehend without effort - as the producers of such schlock prefer. If a piece of work isn't entirely obvious, well, who's got the time, energy, attention spa... The reader/viewer absorbs this information, like a skin cream with a scent that provokes subconscious acquiescence. In other words, it's like movies: The dumber, the more popular.
It's a brilliant strategy that has worked forever - shape the audience to your product, not the other way around, stupid. Begin the process virtually at birth, teach your future audience to absorb information with no conscious cerebral effort. Repeat sensory stimulation as required.
