Lesson from USA Today
A Chicago Tribune piece that talks about USA Today’s upcoming 25th anniversary makes a point all communicators should think about — particularly in today’s challenging environment.
Recall, when it first came out, USA Today was derided as “McPaper” for putting out very short stories that couldn’t possibly be substantive…
Here’s the beef:
“USA Today was successful because it respected what people cared about,” said Ken Paulson, who rejoined USA Today as editor in 2004 after being present at the 1982 launch, loaned for a few months to the nascent national publication by his Gannett paper in New Jersey. “There was a lot of criticism of USA Today for giving people what they wanted instead of what they needed, but is there a news organization today that isn’t trying very hard to deliver what people want?”
Imagine. The paper was dinged for “giving people what they wanted instead of what they needed.”
Flip ahead to 2007 and what do we see? Traditional media are being crushed precisely for failing to give people what they really want. They’re a mile wide and an inch deep.
If you’re interested in tech, for example, you could read the handful of stories that national newspapers cover every week on technology, often following what appears first in the online world. Or, you could subscribe to the many, many blogs and podcasts that cover every facet of the industry in great detail — and view them all in the comfort of your favorite feedreader, in real time.
Seems like a no-brainer.
The lesson? USA Today caught on a quarter-century ago to what big media are finding out only today: You must give people what they want, not what you want them to want.
Kinda simple, isn’t it?
Technorati Tags: usa today, media, web 2.0, newspaper, journalism