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USA Today now occupies a different, digital world – but I still love it USA Today now occupies a different, digital world – but I still love it
(5 months later)
On my first night of retirement from USA Today, after 26 years at the national daily that prompted a publishing revolution of colour photos, perky graphics and punchy stories, I amble through our sleek building's main newsroom. I walk past desks emptied by past layoffs, department consolidations and hiring freezes. On the newsroom floor, workers have just put together "The Hub" – a circular, central nervous system of work spaces crammed with monitors and laptops. Flat screen TVs descend from the ceiling. A mini-television studio sits at the edge of this Star Trek-like construction.On my first night of retirement from USA Today, after 26 years at the national daily that prompted a publishing revolution of colour photos, perky graphics and punchy stories, I amble through our sleek building's main newsroom. I walk past desks emptied by past layoffs, department consolidations and hiring freezes. On the newsroom floor, workers have just put together "The Hub" – a circular, central nervous system of work spaces crammed with monitors and laptops. Flat screen TVs descend from the ceiling. A mini-television studio sits at the edge of this Star Trek-like construction.
Our original building was a crammed bee hive. Writers and editors, talking over each other, typed green text on black background into hulking desk monitors (PCs and laptops came much later). Photo editors crayon-marked piles of news agency glossies, using pica poles and proportional wheels to measure them. Downstairs, worker bees with X-Acto knives cut and pasted text, headlines and photos on to page templates. They learned, after stitches at the local hospital, to put the X-Actos down before pointing at something or turning to say hello. Satellite dishes on the terrace transmitted pages to 36 print sites across the US.Our original building was a crammed bee hive. Writers and editors, talking over each other, typed green text on black background into hulking desk monitors (PCs and laptops came much later). Photo editors crayon-marked piles of news agency glossies, using pica poles and proportional wheels to measure them. Downstairs, worker bees with X-Acto knives cut and pasted text, headlines and photos on to page templates. They learned, after stitches at the local hospital, to put the X-Actos down before pointing at something or turning to say hello. Satellite dishes on the terrace transmitted pages to 36 print sites across the US.
Before I turned in my laptop this last night, I sat at my own desk, checking pages for a late edition. On one page, I tweaked a headline on my screen, moved a colour photo caption and then, almost as an afterthought, clicked the mouse on our publishing system's typeset button. The page electronically whooshed off to our print sites. One person doing what previously took many hands.Before I turned in my laptop this last night, I sat at my own desk, checking pages for a late edition. On one page, I tweaked a headline on my screen, moved a colour photo caption and then, almost as an afterthought, clicked the mouse on our publishing system's typeset button. The page electronically whooshed off to our print sites. One person doing what previously took many hands.
The print newspaper experience is quieter and more diminished today. In the booming years, USA Today routinely published 2m copies a day; we hit 3m just after the 9/11 tragedy.The print newspaper experience is quieter and more diminished today. In the booming years, USA Today routinely published 2m copies a day; we hit 3m just after the 9/11 tragedy.
USA Today is still a publishing behemoth. But, our daily circulation is 1.6m. Others have experienced similar declines. The reality is that there are more ways to receive the news. From our "Hub", the total experience that is now USA Today flows to the world. We're not just a daily print edition. We push out an electronic edition, an international edition, a Caribbean edition, a weekend Cancun edition, updates for our own website, blogs, Twitter feeds, Facebook posts, apps for tablets and smartphones, and even newsy bits on elevator screens – anything that sucks in eyeballs to our content and to the ads that we bring to the party.USA Today is still a publishing behemoth. But, our daily circulation is 1.6m. Others have experienced similar declines. The reality is that there are more ways to receive the news. From our "Hub", the total experience that is now USA Today flows to the world. We're not just a daily print edition. We push out an electronic edition, an international edition, a Caribbean edition, a weekend Cancun edition, updates for our own website, blogs, Twitter feeds, Facebook posts, apps for tablets and smartphones, and even newsy bits on elevator screens – anything that sucks in eyeballs to our content and to the ads that we bring to the party.
Big news corporations like ours don't get that way because they cling only to the old ways. But our leaders believe there's still a healthy audience for print. I have many frequently-visited iPhone news apps, including El Pais, The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post and, yes, the Guardian. To me, it's a bit like looking through a periscope. I see one little bit of news at a time. It's useful. But, perusing a newspaper spread across the kitchen table, while I eat my breakfast Cheerios, gives me a total, and more tactile, panorama of events.Big news corporations like ours don't get that way because they cling only to the old ways. But our leaders believe there's still a healthy audience for print. I have many frequently-visited iPhone news apps, including El Pais, The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post and, yes, the Guardian. To me, it's a bit like looking through a periscope. I see one little bit of news at a time. It's useful. But, perusing a newspaper spread across the kitchen table, while I eat my breakfast Cheerios, gives me a total, and more tactile, panorama of events.
The big, national US dailies, I believe, have more miles on left their odometers. Consider the recent Boston marathon bombings. The immediate coverage from racers and bystanders was spectacular. I was as riveted as anyone by the stark images and video uploaded to social media and by Tweets from the scene. The experience was raw and intense. Our own Tweets, Facebook posts and website views soared.The big, national US dailies, I believe, have more miles on left their odometers. Consider the recent Boston marathon bombings. The immediate coverage from racers and bystanders was spectacular. I was as riveted as anyone by the stark images and video uploaded to social media and by Tweets from the scene. The experience was raw and intense. Our own Tweets, Facebook posts and website views soared.
But we also sold more newspapers. After the initial deluge of information, so-called legacy news organisations like ours were able to deliver more deeply sourced information, filtered through editorial checks and balances that have served well over the years. That's a valuable legacy.But we also sold more newspapers. After the initial deluge of information, so-called legacy news organisations like ours were able to deliver more deeply sourced information, filtered through editorial checks and balances that have served well over the years. That's a valuable legacy.
In my retirement, I plan to keep avidly vacuuming news via my apps and the web and the Twitterverse. But, I also look forward to that daily newspaper plopped on my doorstep every morning. Which reminds me: I need to buy more Cheerios.In my retirement, I plan to keep avidly vacuuming news via my apps and the web and the Twitterverse. But, I also look forward to that daily newspaper plopped on my doorstep every morning. Which reminds me: I need to buy more Cheerios.
• Bill Nicholson has been a contributor to Up All Night on BBC Radio 5 live for almost 20 years as USA Today's night operations editor before retiring earlier this month. His colleague, John Siniff, will take his place as a regular on the show Monday to Friday from 1am.• Bill Nicholson has been a contributor to Up All Night on BBC Radio 5 live for almost 20 years as USA Today's night operations editor before retiring earlier this month. His colleague, John Siniff, will take his place as a regular on the show Monday to Friday from 1am.
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