USA Today: The Nation's Newspaper
Written: Sep 30 '04
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Pros: Excellent presentation; Colors get your attention; Useful and entertaining stats
Cons: Articles only scrape the surface; Money section is lacking
The Bottom Line: USA Today has its flaws, with articles that lack depth. But it gets my attention and I read more total pages than any other newspaper.
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| Bryan_Carey's Full Review: USA Today |
Newspapers are invaluable for bringing national current events, local issues, sports, weather, and entertainment into the homes and offices of millions of people each day. Most every sizable city in the United States (50,000+) has at least one publisher that prints a daily paper for local consumption, keeping its local populace informed of newsworthy events on both a large and small scale.
For many citizens, local papers provide sufficient data about national affairs and provide a valuable resource for local events and entertainment. But for other people, local papers are not quite enough because they don’t report as much on national and world events and affairs as they would prefer. For these people, a national newspaper provides the desired daily reading material. And the largest of all in the United States is USA Today, a newspaper that reports on national news, world news, entertainment, finance, and sports.
Features of This Newspaper:
USA Today is published five days per week (Monday through Friday), excluding the major holidays (New Years, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas). Each daily issue can be counted on for the following:
Main Section- This opens the paper, with a summary of important events on the cover page with an index of highlighted stories from all sections and longer articles about stories of interest from around the country and the world.
Money- A summary of the Dow Jones, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 indices, along with the present price of gold, 30- year T- Bond, 3- month T- bill, and other financial indicators can be found on the front page, with corporate news, technology, economic trends, and other national financial issues discussed on the remaining pages
Sports- A recap of the latest scores for all the major sports, both professional and college, can be found in this section, along with standings, rankings, and even the results of state lotteries around the country. Dozens of sports- related stories can be read every day along with the statistics.
Life- Lovers of entertainment will enjoy this section of USA Today the most. It covers the television schedule for the current day (both network and cable) with lots of columns about new movies, television shows, music stars, musical tours, new books, etc.
USA Today sometimes has additional sections in its paper for various areas of interest. For example, there have been recent special sections regarding the upcoming presidential election and special sections in the past have covered many different political, entertainment, and social concerns.
Costs to Subscribe:
USA Today sells for a base subscription price of $119 for 52 weeks (260 papers total), which works out to 46 cents per daily paper- a savings of 39 percent off the 75 cent cover price. Shorter subscriptions are also available, for 26 weeks ($59.50) or 13 weeks ($29.75). Each of these price levels works out to the same level of savings.
Customer Service:
USA Today can be reached by calling the toll- free customer service line, 800-USA-0001 (800-872-0001), between the hours of 6:30am and 12 am EST. You can also find out information, start a subscription, change your billing information or delivery information, or send a question to USA today through the web site, usatoday.com.
Final Thoughts:
USA Today is the most popular national paper in America. It has been in production now for more than twenty years and it commands a circulation base of more than 2.2 million readers, making it more widely read than any other paper, including much older publications like the Wall Street Journal.
I have been reading USA Today on and off for the majority of the twenty years the paper has been printed and it still remains as one of the few papers I can always turn to for something interesting to read. The appearance of the paper is one of the reasons for its appeal. The cover of each section is always printed in color, with a mixture of black and white and color on the remaining pages of each section. This eye- catching design always grabs my attention. When I’m in a book store looking at the stacks and stacks of newspapers, USA Today is the one that gets my attention faster than any other, thanks mostly to the color and design.
USA Today has many qualities that make it a good newspaper and one of these is the presentation of the articles and columns. With most other newspapers, I tend to page through quickly, making sure to glance at all the pages at least once and scan them for articles of interest. But with USA Today, I find myself reading much more than with other newspapers. I know part of the reason is that the articles are national in scope which means they will have greater appeal to a wider audience. Local papers, while nice to read, are often cluttered with filler material- articles that are very narrow and are written to appeal only to a specific interest. USA Today keeps its stories more broad- based, making them more appealing to a larger number of people.
The next thing I really enjoy about USA Today is the frequent statistics, tables, and graphs that accompany the stories and pages of each issue. I know, I know- the statistics are one of the things that some people dislike about this paper because some feel that this space could be better utilized with more stories. These same critics also dislike the trivial nature of many of the statistics, since some of them include data that is unrelated to anything in the paper. I, however, speak from the other side in this debate. I like the statistical displays, including the trivial information. I think the stats, graphs, and tables help to illustrate the point of the articles where they exist and they also grab my attention and convince me to read many more stories than I otherwise would. And the trivial statistics, while not critical to the understanding of any longer article, are still fun and they make for a nice stress break from the other reading.
USA Today is pretty good in its coverage of sports, with standings, recent scores, odds listings, and state lottery results included in each daily issue. The same goes for the section on entertainment. You can quickly find the television schedule to make sure you don’t miss your favorite programs, along with lists of the best- selling books, top- grossing movies, and other facts and figures from the latest entertainment sales data.
One area where I wish the paper was a little more thorough is the Money section. There is no listing of the NYSE, S&P, or NASDAQ individual stocks in each daily issue. Instead, USA Today provides mostly recaps and pays more attention to stories than to actual raw stock market data. There is often some good reading to be found here, but it’s no substitute for the Wall Street Journal or other large newspaper operation.
Another thing to keep in mind about USA Today before you subscribe is that the paper will not be there on your doorstep in the morning before you go to work. In most areas, USA Today is delivered via the U.S. postal service, which means you won’t get the paper until the afternoon. This is fine for those who enjoy an evening read after dinner, but frustrating for those who like taking the newspaper to work with them. Another frustration for subscribers is that since USA Today is commonly sold in machines near areas with lots of workers, there is a good chance that other people in your place of employment will buy the paper early, then read it and discuss it with you at work. If you’re the type who likes to be surprised when you read your copy of USA Today, this afternoon delivery can be a problem because others will have already read the paper and could spoil your fun.
Since USA Today attempts to cover the entire United States in every issue, you can expect to find numerous articles. However, these articles are not always as thorough as some may prefer. In many cases, the articles only cover the tip of the iceberg, making readers wonder about the rest of the story. But that’s what happens when a paper tries to cover anything and everything interesting each day. I can live with this, but I admit that I sometimes find myself researching the internet for more information.
Overall, USA Today is still a good paper. I love the constant use of statistics to drive the point home and I like the presentation. The articles themselves are sometimes a tad too short and some of the veteran writers with USA Today can get on my nerves a little bit. But I still like and recommend an occasional read of this newspaper. I don’t plan on purchasing a subscription myself but I will likely continue to buy my occasional copy from a machine. After all, this is “The Nation’s Newspaper”, and it’s one that succeeds at keeping my interest much longer than other daily periodicals.
Recommended:
Yes
Describe the newspaper's political views: It is moderate
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