Al Neuharth, founder of USA Today, dies at 89

Guardian UK - USA Today, the Monday to Friday daily launched in 1982 by Al Neuharth, who has died aged 89, was the US's first general national newspaper. It now has a circulation of about 1.8m and is a familiar sight across the US, with its white title on a sky-blue box and its colourful front page.

When the paper first arrived, critics derided it as "McPaper" and one news agency noted its "rented presses". That typified the scepticism, even scorn, from a dull and complacent American mainstream press. USA Today's bright format and shorter articles would have been familiar to British readers, but Americans expected their metropolitan dailies to be wordy, ponderous, grey and unadventurous.  Read more.

Comments

Popular Posts