Still Shrugging....

Oft-mocked in J-schools, USA Today was the last great innovation in newspapers. The paper, a creation of Gannett and founder Al Neuhart, realized that papers were getting left behind by Americans increasing addiction to television. USA Today was often referred to as "McPaper," proving that the smugness of newspaper people knew no bounds even then. It was and remains a four-section (News, Life, Sports, Money) five-day-a-week national paper, and for the most part, has been as good a way as any to get the pulse of the nation through a newspaper. Like most papers, it skewed/s to the Left, but regularly publishes Conservative commentary, and regardless of its daily editorial view, always publishes an opposition view. 

I was an avid reader of USA Today for years. I called it dessert, and that's not meant as a putdown. Before wi-fi was everywhere, it was the fastest way to get a taste of what's going on in the country. I began to get hesitant when the paper invited Michael Moore to cover the 2004 GOP National Convention and Ann Coulter to cover the Dem convention. Moore's work was printed, Coulter's was not. 

Neuharth is a Lib, but his 300-word column every Friday tended to stay away from partisan politics. Beginning with our invasion of Iraq, that changed, and noticeably too did the letter printed, the tone of the editorials, and the growing imbalance on the Viewpoints page. 

Going Galt means many things to many people, but the last movement of my first act in the Going Galt game was to quit buying USA Today everyday. I'd quit buying and subscribing to newspapers in 2007, but the coverage of the POTUS race in '08 - particularly with the paper's coverage of then-Sen. Obama - did me in. I was not alone, and the news grows bleaker for America's largest newspaper. Give them credit: they earned their demise by openly, flagrantly backing an anti-business Leftist when the primary consumers of their rag are business travelers. As someone who actually a business traveler, I won't even pick up the free copy anymore when I'm staying at a hotel, although I do still sneak a peak at its Friday Travel section, at least if it's free.

From WSJ:

USA Today President and Publisher Craig Moon announced his sudden retirement Tuesday, leaving the country's largest newspaper with its top two jobs unfilled during perhaps the most difficult stretch in its 27-year history. He also said the newspaper has lost about 100,000 subscribers just from the slowdown in travel.

Mr. Moon said in an interview that the slowdown has resulted in a reduction of more than 7% in the number of copies of USA Today distributed through partnerships with hotel chains such as Marriott, which account for more than half of its circulation.