Trouble and Change.

The traditional view of newspapers — fiercely independent papers run by strong individual personalities with strong local ties and flavors in a competitive local market — continued to be less true in the 1980s. More cities were left with single newspapers, all morning editions, as publishers not facing direct competition in local markets eliminated slowly dying afternoon editions.

Gannett's Influence.

The founding of USA Today in 1982 by the Gannett group and its chief executive officer, Allan H. Nueharth, was influential in both newspaper content and design, despite Nueharth's stated intention that the paper was a supplement to, rather than a replacement of, local newspapers. But in an era when more and more people chose to get their news and information from television, USA Today taught lessons different from those intended by Neuharth.

Splashy Layout.

USA Today featured a splashy layout with lots of color...