About a dozen years ago, I was still racking up frequent flyer points. Those of us traveling the schlepper circuit spent a lot of time on airplanes, in hotels, and in airport lounges, often with a copy of USA Today tucked under our arms.
USA Today was ubiquitous at the end of the flip-phone era before smartphones were widespread. Most airlines and major hotel chains provided it free. So, before we could fire up our then seven- or eight-pound laptops, we often skimmed through USA Today.
I’ve been traveling again this summer. Although I have digital subscriptions to more publications than I care to count, it feels good to get a little ink on my fingers now and then.
Much to my surprise, it took considerable effort to find a physical newspaper at an airport newsstand, but I eventually did find the day’s USA Today. More shocking was the three-dollar newsstand price, especially as the paper is perhaps 30 pages long.
As amazed as I was by the difficulty finding a paper and the cost, I was dumbfounded when I looked at the front page. Although USA Today runs marketing and non-news content above the masthead (in the ear), I don’t recall a pure opinion column under the masthead in the top right column.
In most cases, editors reserve the top right column for the day’s most important story, while others prefer to use the left column. An event of ultra-importance often stretches across the top of the paper.
Where I expected to find a news headline, in the top right column, I found USA Today columnist Nancy Armour and a column titled: “Deshaun Watson gets laughable suspension.” The sub-headline continued: “Retired judge imposes measly penalty as NFL lets women down again.” I did a doubletake to ensure I wasn’t looking at the editorial page; I wasn’t. It wasn’t even the front page of the sports section.
I looked online at the front page of other papers from the same day:
The New York Times: “U.S. Drone Strike Kills Key Plotter of 9/11, Biden Says” (top right column). It also ran a front-page story about Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan and Ukraine moving its first grain shipment since the Russian invasion.
The Washington Post: “U.S. strike kills bin Laden’s successor,” all the way across the top directly under the masthead.
The Wall Street Journal: Featured the Ukraine grain story across four columns in the middle and the Pelosi story in the top right column.
The Boston Globe had the drone strike story in the upper left column. It featured a two-column headline on the Massachusetts state legislature finishing a marathon session
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune had a local story about hospital errors during the Covid pandemic all the way across the top. The Pelosi story was in the top right column.
Other major U.S. newspapers also led with stories about the drone strike, Pelosi’s Taiwan trip, the Ukraine grain shipment, and other items of local interest.
USA Today had a story about Kansas voting on a statewide abortion referendum on its left column and the Deshaun Watson opinion piece in the right column. There was nothing about the drone strike, Ukraine, or Pelosi’s trip on the front page. Let’s forget about the editorial decision not to include information on the front page of most other U.S. newspapers; it’s a minor point.
USA Today, which has jokingly been called “McPaper,” may never have been the gold standard in journalism, but this seems straightforward, black and white. The news section is for information and not opinion. There is an Editorial, Op-Ed, or Opinion section where columns like Armour’s belong. It wouldn’t be so troubling even if it were on the sports section’s front page.
Placing an opinion column in the news section is bewildering. Putting it on the front page in the top right-hand column is beyond disconcerting; it’s downright stupefying!
I asked USA Today how long they have been putting opinion columns in their news section. A spokesperson for Gannett, which owns USA Today, responded via email with the following: “USA TODAY clearly labels opinion columns as such, and it is not uncommon to appear on the front page.”
Although I don’t recall previously seeing opinion columns in the lead news spot, Gannett’s response suggests they have done it before, although for how long isn’t clear., Gannett apparently thinks it’s “not uncommon,” however, I can’t think of another leading newspaper that follows this practice.
In this age of misinformation and disinformation, mixing opinion and news blurs the lines further.
While USA Today has taken the leap of openly mixing news and opinion, the trend has been creeping into journalism for the past several decades. Digital and social media have changed how information is both consumed and edited. This topic requires further and deeper exploration, and we’ll continue it next week.
Andy Bloom is president of Andy Bloom Communications. He specializes in media training and political communications. He has programmed legendary stations including WIP, WPHT and WYSP/Philadelphia, KLSX, Los Angeles and WCCO Minneapolis. He was Vice President Programming for Emmis International, Greater Media Inc. and Coleman Research. Andy also served as communications director for Rep. Michael R. Turner, R-Ohio. He can be reached by email at andy@andybloom.com or you can follow him on Twitter @AndyBloomCom.
