The Newspaper's All-Blog Future
USA Today On Deadline is basically a real-time breaking news blog. It is written by a pair of bloggers. They're not just bloggers, mind you, but full-time bloggers. According to USATODAY.com VP/Editor-in-Chief Kinsey Wilson the two are "mashing must-read scoops against weird-news quirks at a feverish pace of 30 posts a day." Some of these posts even make it into print.
On Deadline is a natural fit for a brand that for years was nicknamed McPaper. It's consistent with USA Today's trademark short, often quirky stories. Although blogs are not helping newspapers (yet) attract younger readers to their sites, blogs like On Deadline point to a future where newspapers - and perhaps all media - will be published mostly in bite-size chunks. The success of the 10 minute clip on YouTube also highlights our love for the quick and the fun.
USA Today already has lots of blogs but what they're missing is a real-time blog on sports, another one of their strengths. I would love to see them take the On Deadline model and roll out blogs that give NBA, MLB, NFL and NHL game-by-game updates in near real-time. They could break these blogs down by team too. Celebrity gossip is also an area where USA Today should play with blogs.
Whether they take this to the next level or not is still an open question. What is known, however, is that USA Today, with On Deadline, is changing journalism and with it PR. As newspapers increasingly rely on blogs and short videos, our client reports are going to consist of a lot more quick hits than in-depth reports.







"I can't find the link for the life of me"
Steve - do you mean this post of yours from Feb05? http://qurl.com/mwh5y
Posted by: Seamus McCauley | Wednesday, August 02, 2006 at 06:36 AM
Seamus, there was another post, but this follows a similar thread.
Posted by: Steve Rubel | Wednesday, August 02, 2006 at 07:14 AM
Steve, after a quick look, I can't find it either, but I remember writing and I still believe it. A reverse-chronologic listing of stories as they come on line is the most rational way to present the news. The Times and other newspaper websites are still clinging to the idea that their Internet presence is an electronic version of their print presences.
Posted by: Dave Winer | Wednesday, August 02, 2006 at 09:47 AM
Interesting, Steve. I particularly like your sports idea. Although, that may be a bit overkill considering how much action really takes place in games of all sorts.
Also, the gossip idea makes complete sense for USA Today, but it's a crowded blog market when it comes to gossip. I'm not completely sold on how much traffic they could steal from existing gossip blogs. It will definitely be interesting to see how they expand though.
Have you found a significant paper or mag. that isn't experimenting with blogs? It seems like they've all jumped in.
Posted by: Ryan Lack | Wednesday, August 02, 2006 at 12:25 PM
Steve, whtat do you think about the fact that USA Today's On Deadline news blog doesn't provide full text of items in its RSS feed? The most recent post, entitled "Bush helps shut down White House briefing room," reads as follows:
RSS makes it possible for news I'm interested in to come to me, but I wonder how effective this will be if each blog post seems like a tease to get click-throughs to the USA Today site.
Posted by: Bill Berry | Wednesday, August 02, 2006 at 03:17 PM
Ryan, they all seem to be experimenting. You can find an analysis here.
Bill, I think giving RSS half a hug is a bad idea.
Posted by: Steve Rubel | Thursday, August 03, 2006 at 08:41 PM