fifteen candles bum brightly for USA Today
USA from page 1
features tightly written to let the read
er absorb it quickly.
It was this quickness that most
critics of the new paper took after.
Old-school newspaper hounds
attacked the new paper for its brevity,
calling it the print version of radio.
Even USA Today’s own former edi
tor, John Quinn, once quipped that
the paper was “bringing new depth to
the definition of shallow,” and that if
the paper won a Pulitzer Prize, it
would be for “best investigative para
graph.”
“Being brief is not something
USA Today started at all,” Thien said.
“But it got blamed for that in a nega
tive way.
“I didn’t expect the establishment
press to be so nasty.”
But Thien said the one fact that
killed critics was that readers liked it.
And it wasn’t just the paper’s target
audience that was buying.
“The surprise were the people like
my mother who liked it,” he said. “My
mother was not our audience. Nor
were blue-collar workers in Detroit.”
That first paper sold more than a
million copies. It had colorful front
pages and infographics, short stories,
an institutionalized commitment to
diversity in the news pages and the
now-famous color weather map.
Newspapers tripped over themselves
to duplicate it all - sometimes with
disastrous results - and the upstart
sent ripples through an industry
steeped in tradition.
Keith Woods, a researcher with
the Poynter Institute for Media
Studies, said USA Today pioneered
those areas, and the fact that the paper
is still in existence stands as a testa
ment to the impact it has made.
“A 15-year-old newspaper is a
huge accomplishment by itself,’’ he
said. “If you went around the country
and looked at the front pages of news
papers ... before USA Today, you
would see that profound change.”
And USA Today is not finished
changing.
Thien said the teen-ager is grow
ing up. Woods said it is starting to
delve deeper into the news and is
making a play for more national
respect.
USA Today’s longest stories when
it started were the cover stories,
Editor: Paula Lavigne
Managing Editor: Julie Sobczyk
Associate News Editor: Rebecca Stone
Assistant News Editor: Jeff Randall
Assignment Editor: Chad Lorenz
Opinion Editor: Jessica Kennedy
Sports Editor: Mike Kluck
A&E Editor: Jim Goodwin
Copy Desk Chief: Nancy Zywiec
Photo Director: Ryan Soderlin
Design Director: Joshua Gillin
At Director: Aaron Steckelberg
Online Editor: Mary Ann Muggy
Asst. Online Editor: Amy Pemberton
Questions? Comments? Ask for the
appropriate section editor at (402) 472-2588
or e-mail dn@unlinfo.unl.edu.
General Manager: Dan Shattil
Publications Board Melissa Myles,
Chairwoman: (402) 476-2446
Professional Adviser: Don Walton,
(402)473-7301
Advertising Manager: Nick Partsch,
(402) 472-2589
Assistant Ad Manager: Daniel Lam
Classified Ad Manager: Tiffiny Clifton
Fax number: (402) 472-1761
World Wide Web: www.unl.edu/DaHyNeb -
The Daily Nebraskan (USPS144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board, Neliaska Union
34,1400 R St, Lincoln, NE68588-0448, Monday through Friday duping the academic vbaryiyeekly
during the summer sessionslhe public has access to the Publications Board.
Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daily Nebraskan by calling
(402)472-2588.
Subscriptions are $55 for one year.
Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St., Lincoln
NE 68588-0448. Periodical postage paid at Lincoln, NE.
ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT1997
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
which were kept short by many stan
dards. Now, the paper has cover sto
ries with considerable length and
many separate stories to supplement
the main story.
That move toward depth, Woods
said, has given the paper more esteem
in the national news scene. However,
he said, USA Today will never be a
New York Times or a Washington
Post.
“It won’t hit that level of esteem in
the public mind,” Wood said. “It
remains very, very wide, but not very
deep. You sacrifice one for the other.
“They are not going to try to be
both. Why should they, since it suc
ceeded?”
Thien went back to South Dakota
in July 1981, when his job in
Washington was done. From there he
taught at the University of Kansas,
then was the editor of the Iowa City
Press-Citizen, and in 1991, he came
to UNL.
From his office in Avery Hall,
Thien has not been afraid to call USA
Today executives and let them know
what he likes and doesn’t like. He still
watches Neuharth’s baby, his nephew.
“I’ve just seen it grow up where it
isn’t so schizophrenic out front,” he
said. “Maybe that is like someone
growing up.”
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Wanted: 1997 Swoosh Team. I'm looking for volunteers who love sports and want to have a great
time creating NIKE events around campus. Interested? Drop me a line at steve.saylors@nike.com
16 17 18 19 20
Women's Golf/V Women's Soccer/V Women's Volleyball/V Men's & Women's Men's Football/V
f at Texas Tech vs. Iowa State at Madison, Wl CROSS COUNTRY/V at Washington
: 8:00 AM at Abbott Sports Complex 5:00 PM Nebraska Invitational 2;30PM
Co Golf 7:00 PM at Pioneers Park TV: ABC
TOURNAMENT/I 10:00 AM
a^k \ Entry Deadline
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
Women's Soccer/V Men's & Women's Women's Golf/V Women's Golf/V Women's Golf/V Men's & Women's
vs. Arkansas ^ Fast PnCH Softball at New Mexico at New Mexico at New Mexico Cross Country/V
at Abbott Sports Complex ■ TOURNAMENT/I 9:00 AM WmJ*s£Lr/V 9:00 AM at Minnesota
1:00 PM ; Entry Deadline W°M?? Bauor0^ Men's & Women's Noon
Men's & Women's at Abbott Sports Complex Cross Country/V Women's
Flag Football/I 7 00 pm at unk Volleyball/V
Entry Deadline Women's Volleyball/V 9:45 AM at Kansas State
_at Kansas 7:30 PM 7:00 PM
. ... A, Co = Corecreational / V = Varsity / C = Club / l = lntramural
Women's Women's Women's Golf/V j
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at Abbott Sports Complex 9:00 AM Men's & Women's ■
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Entry
In creating Sports1/2Page NIKE makes every effort to be accurate We regret any errors
I If your team wasn't covered, let your NIKE student rep know and we'll try next issue.
Hi, I'm Steve Saylors, your NIKE student rep. You're looking at the first issue of Sports1/2Page. Our goal is to plug
you into upcoming sports and NIKE events around campus. Check here every two weeks or so for the latest and
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