Just over a year ago, the first editions of USA Today, which bills itself as “the nation’s newspaper,” were introduced in targeted areas of the nation. The highly stylized, somewhat flashy national paper hit the Dallas-area market on October 3.
The offspring of Gannett Co. Inc., one of the nation’s largest newspaper chains, USA Today is now available to 50 percent of the U.S. population. Each U.S. city the size of Dallas or larger now receives the paper.
Before USA Today was available in this area, its national circulation was a little more than one million. A spokesman for USA Today predicts that by the end of 1987, the paper, which is published Monday through Friday, will have a daily circulation of 2,350,000.
On the day that USA Today debuted in Dallas, we delivered copies of the publication to a few local opinion leaders, asking for their comments. Their responses follow.
Alex Burton, KRLD radio news commentator: “There’s a smart appearance. The pictures aren’t blurry! It probably will sell more in this market to people from outside [Dallas]. It surpasses the electronic media-it gives you more detail.”
Lyn Dunsavage, publisher, The Dallas Downtown News: “The color layout has an appeal to the masses. It’s not in-depth information, but it fulfills its purpose exceedingly well. It’s an electronic approach to the print media. The detail of the sports coverage is a strong selling asset.”
Norm Hitzges, sports director, Home Sports Entertainment; former WBAP sports talk-show host: “As far as appearance is concerned, USA Today is the best I’ve ever seen. I buy USA Today for the sports coverage and don’t look too much at the rest of the paper. There’s a lot of background material and agate [statistics] material. The writing is good and crisp-not much bull.”
Scott Bennett, president, Scott Bennett & Co.: “I would change the editorial page. I don’t like the mix of journalists they put together, and I didn’t like the single-topic format much. The business section is the best part of the paper, and sports is the worst- it has no angle.”
Bob Ray Sanders, news edition host, KERA-TV: “It’s a headline service-a little something for a lot of people. Many people need to read a newspaper on the run. It has influenced the local papers; it’s a supplement to them. I particularly like the life[style] section’s coverage of the media and arts.”
Related Articles
Arts & Entertainment
DIFF Preview: How the Death of Its Subject Caused a Dallas Documentary to Shift Gears
Michael Rowley’s Racing Mister Fahrenheit, about the late Dallas businessman Bobby Haas, will premiere during the eight-day Dallas International Film Festival.
Commercial Real Estate
What’s Behind DFW’s Outpatient Building Squeeze?
High costs and high demand have tenants looking in increasingly creative places.
