Neuharth was born in the small town of Eureka, South Dakota. He was graduated from the University of South Dakota at Vermillion with a major in journalism.
By 1966 Neuharth was with Gannet, later the parent company of USA Today. In 1979, Neuharth took over the Gannet company as chairman, president and chief executive officer of the group of firms.
From its founding in September 15, 1981, USA Today caused as much debate and discussion as any media venture in US journalism history. USA Today provided the nation with its first truly national newspaper.
Because of its distinctive compressed writing style, USA Today it was immediately dubbed ‘McNewspaper’ reflecting industry criticism that its fast-paced approach to news presentation for a mobile population was merely trivializing the newspaper’s delivery of information much in the same way McDonald’s was selling fast-food at its drive-ups windows.
However, in the late 1980s Neuharth undertook a ‘BusCapade’ promotion tour, traveling to all 50 states to talk with people about USA Today. Neuharth succeeded in raising public awareness of his paper, which was credited for USA Today’s move into profitability.
The overseas success of USA Today led to the publication USA Today International which is now available in more than 60 countries.
USA Today
