Al Neuharth, 1924–2013

When Al Neuharth launched USA Today in 1982, his goal was to reinvent the American newspaper. His new national daily, aimed at a generation raised on television, featured bright colors, flashy infographics, and brief, easy-to-read articles. Critics blasted USA Today as “junk food journalism” and Newsweek called Neuharth “the man who shortened the attention span of millions of Americans.” But within five years, the paper was reaching 5.5 million people, and other dailies—including The New York Times—began copying its reader-friendly style. “The editors who called us McPaper stole our McNuggets,” said Neuharth.

Born in Eureka, S.D., Neuharth had a classic “rags-to-riches” life, said The Washington Post. He was 2 years old when his father died in a farm accident, and by age 11 Neuharth was supplementing his impoverished family’s income by delivering the Minneapolis Tribune. At 13, he found a job at the nearby Alpena Journal, and over the next three decades climbed the ranks at various newspapers before being hired as general manager of the Gannett news organization, which then owned 16 newspapers, in 1963.

Neuharth took over Gannett a decade later, and by the time USA Today launched, the chain owned 80 daily newspapers and had more readers than The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times,and the Chicago Tribune combined. As the company grew, so did Neuharth’s ego. In 1984, he invited USA Today executives to a meeting at his home in Cocoa Beach, Fla. “They arrived to see a long table set with matzo and Manischewitz wine in a mock tableau of the Last Supper,” said The New York Times, with Neuharth wearing long robes and a crown of thorns. “I am the crucified one,” he told shocked executives, warning them they would be “passed over” unless performance improved.

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Neuharth stepped down from Gannett in 1989, said USA Today, but “never faded away.” He kept haranguing editors and publishers with notes and phone calls, and championed the paper’s expansion on the Internet—which seemed like the natural home for Neuharth’s straight-to-the-point journalism. “Our readers want to know a little about a lot of things,” he said, “and they don’t want to waste a lot of time finding it out.”