USA Today at 20: the inside story; two tumultuous decades have passed since the magazine was launched, providing an open forum for the viewpoints of the nation's leaders and other experts

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), July, 1998

Regional specialists

Aiding and abetting the staff is a board of 40 regional editors, each a specialist in his or her respective discipline, whose task it is to gather articles from experts across the country. When the magazine was launched, it was with a departmental format of 18 sections, each designed to be represented every issue. From the opening lineup--Art, American Thought, Business & Finance, Ecology, Economics, Education, Geography, Law & Justice, Life in America, The Literary Scene, Mass Media, Medicine & Health, National Affairs, Psychology, Religion, Science & Technology, USA Looks at the World, and USA Yesterday--16 have survived and thrived, with others added over the years as the magazine's concept has evolved. Speaking about survivors, we are proud that seven of the original 18 editors have made it through two decades with us, and we toast their efforts over the years as well as their perseverance. USA Today's version of the Magnificent Seven are Gerald F. Kreyche (American Thought), Robert W. Haseltine (Economics), Francesco Cordasco (Education), Arnold Birenbaum (Medicine & Health), Robert J. Bresler (National Affairs), Ralph Hyatt (Psychology), and Athan G. Theoharis (USA Yesterday).

Many of the departmental editors and associate editors do double duty as columnists, pouncing on the opportunity each issue to take strong positions on the vital topics of the day. Currently holding down the pundits' chairs are Robert Bresler ("The State of the Nation"), Jeff Schnepper ("The Economic Observer"), James Nathan and Llewellyn Howell ("The World Watcher"), Christopher Sharrett ("The Reel World"), Wayne M. Barrett ("Sportscene"), Joe Saltzman ("Words & Images"), and Gerald Kreyche ("Parting Thoughts"), while various specialists from investment houses and other financial sources fill guest slots to discuss "Money Matters." Add the brief news stories up front in "Your Life" and the product information and book and video reviews in "What's New?," and we've been sharing our opinions with readers for two decades without running dry yet.

Of course, style without substance would leave our readers--and ourselves, for that matter--unsatisfied. No matter who contributes manuscripts to the magazine, there had better be real meat on the bones of the articles. If we have to turn back a piece to Pres. Clinton or Sen. Bob Dole, who was running against him, for a rewrite, so be it. An op-ed effort can be glibly tossed off. We, on the other hand, commission articles ranging from 1,500 to, when a topic calls for it, 4,000 words, ensuring that the expertise of the author on that particular subject is drawn out, as well as his or her passion. No one is going to write at those lengths without really caring about the issue at hand.

"I don't feel our articles are too long," Lehrer maintains. "They average about three pages in the magazine, although there are exceptions that go four pages or more. If you select the right topics, the length is immaterial. You may give readers two pages on a topic, and they'll want more. People's reading habits change. In the 1940s and 1950s, more women were in the home and they ordered subscriptions. With the number of women working now, leisurely reading in the home isn't nearly what it was. So we try to keep the material concise."