The original McPaper has evolved into a purveyor of solid journalism in between the splashy graphics about America's favourite breads.
This summer, a series of long, investigative articles explored why most American troops in Iraq still do not have vehicles that could protect them from explosives, though the vehicles were available years ago and the Iraqi military has them.
The series appeared in USA Today — yes, USA Today, the newspaper that pioneered vivid color and microarticles, favored the upbeat over the serious and sprinkled its pages with frivolous graphics (we sure do like tuna sandwiches for lunch, America). But no close reader would have been surprised to see tough reporting alongside the flash.
USA Today, which turned 25 on Saturday, still stands apart as a lighter and quicker read than most of its competitors. And, as many journalists feared it might, USA Today, once derided as “McPaper,” has made a lasting mark on American newspapers in general, prodding many drab dailies to print shorter articles, switch to color, devote more space to sports and use more pictures and graphics.
But at the same time, USA Today has gradually become more like other papers — more substantive, more serious, more likely to give ample space to at least a few big stories. The newspaper has grown up from a caricatured outsider to a respectable part of the establishment that competitors, government and business must take seriously.
“There’s still a wide spread between what other major newspapers look like and read like, and USA Today, but it’s not as wide as it was,” said Allen H. Neuharth, the former Gannett chairman and chief executive who created USA Today.
The paper, which lost something like $1 billion in its first decade, is now a money-maker with weekday circulation of 2.3 million, the largest of any American newspaper. But like the rest of the industry, it is facing the challenge of readers and advertisers fleeing to the Internet for news and information.
In some ways, USA Today seems well suited for the challenge. The paper was built to capitalize on a then-novel idea — American society was becoming more mobile — long before there was the Web, cellphones or Wi-Fi connections. The paper was designed to appeal to business travelers — half its copies are distributed through hotels — and to people who have relocated from one part of the country to another. For both groups, it offers a consistent, easy-to-read product with some news from back home, and a national perspective on news and sports that most local papers lack.
It also had features specifically targeted to those groups, like the full-page, colorful national weather map that was widely imitated almost immediately, comprehensive sports coverage and aggressive reporting on the airline industry.
USA Today’s graphic approach, its relatively young audience and its habit of encouraging reader feedback presaged some aspects of the Internet, though it remains to be seen whether its status as a popular innovator will carry into the online future. Since its Web site was overhauled early this year, readers have been able to post comments on all articles, look up every comment by a particular reader and start conversations among themselves.
The site offers a lot of Web-only content like video and blogs, some with avid followings, but an attempt last year to let readers personalize the site for the news they want fell flat, with few people taking advantage of it. Over all, USAToday.com attracts 9 to 10 million unique viewers each month, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, second only to The New York Times’s site among newspapers — but that number has been flat for a few years.