I don't think it is breaking news to anyone to say that newspapers have been struggling. Shocker, right? Clearly that isn't a surprise, but I have to say I was a little surprised to hear the comment this week by USA editor in chief David Callaway.
Speculating on the future, Callaway said that he could foresee that USA Today could end in the next five or six years. I understand and actually agree, but I was surprised that he said it; out loud; to a reporter.
But the rest of the story is where I think the future actually is for USA Today. The product will still be around in some form, and I believe that will be a printed format as well as digital. Gannett has started offering their product as a daily supplement to Gannett properties. The first to do this supplemental approach was the Indianapolis Star.
Using national and feature sections from USA Today allows a newspaper to have a wide scope of content with no reporters, editors or page designers. It costs them newsprint, but they have saved on newsprint through other cuts. While I don't know if any newspaper has done this yet, they could also drop or significantly reduce the AP contract, if they are relying on USA Today for national coverage.
USA Today still have the reach with their content, and I'm sure there is some sort of advertising revenue share. So the advertising department has an increasingly bigger audience to sell.
Gannett started shopping around the supplemental content to non-Gannett properties a while ago. Schurz Communications is one example of a company that is adapting the new USA Today format to their daily products. They are not the first newspaper company to add this USA Today product, and I don't suspect the last.
While USA Today as a stand alone product might be short lived, the product will evolve and be around. For some newspapers, it could be a unique revenue stream and expense reducer which will continue to be important in the future of all newspapers.
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