The editors of USA Today, because they do each and every day, had to determine what to create its "Cover Story."
The death toll from the cyclone in Myanmar was approaching 25,000, with about almost a million homeless, and the ruling military junta was still refusing to simply accept foreign assistance.
A Pentagon report revealed that about 43,000 medically unfit troops were sent into combat.
In Philadelphia, six police officers were under investigation for beating suspects. And, in Russia a new president was inaugurated.
What the editors chose to dominate leading page was a three-column head photo of presidential daughter Jenna Bush and a story about her forthcoming non-public private wedding. The only real reason USA Today didn't run the story on its front pages Saturday and Sunday is really because it doesn't publish on weekends. But, pretty much every other Colorado News medium gave the marriage heavy play.
When USA Today debuted in 1982, it had been a glitzy full color alternative to the average gray newspaper. Focused upon an audience of travelers, and primarily offered by airports and hotels, the five day per week newspaper, then as now, had short, quick discusses the news. "Throughout the USA" is some one paragraph stories out of every state, in addition to the territories, something to allow the lonely traveler know his home state still exists. A shade weather map informs travelers what to anticipate if they arrive at an airport several states away. Extensive business stories target middle- and upper-management workers who don't have the time and energy to read that day's Wall Street Journal.
With an increased exposure of polls, USA Today tells us what we think. And what we think is divided into four equal parts-News, Lifestyle, Sports, and Money. Thus, Colorado News is one-fourth of the newspaper.
Ridiculed as McPaper, but read by about two million people each day, nearly all of whom manage to get thier daily dose from vendor boxes that look like a TV on a stand, USA Today has set the agenda for almost every newspaper in the country. Following a USA Today model, local newspapers have splashed color and graphics on its pages. The stories are shorter, but not necessarily tighter. And, in an era of downsizing, where publishers who don't pull in 20 percent a year profits in many cases are reassigned, you will find fewer reporters, fewer in-depth stories, fewer and narrower pages, and a better reliance upon wire service stories. But, celebrity-based stories and increased fluff-what editors wrongly believe the readers want-have bought out the leading pages.
USA Today was never designed to restore the local newspaper, nor should it be a model for local newspapers. It has a distinct segment, and serves that niche well. But, local newspapers are becoming USA Today clones. That's why Colorado News if USA Today places a celebrity wedding as its most important dilemma of the afternoon, then it's reasonable to believe that the clones also think that 25,000 deaths may be relegated to the inside pages.
humdrummalady8564 Community Member 
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