journalism

USA TODAY is the nation’s most widely read newspaper, and there’s a reason for that. Incisive news
reporting, highly detailed and informative graphics, hard-hitting editorials and hard-to-resist features all
rolled into one colorful, appealing package. What better way to teach journalism than to use
USA TODAY as a model of all that newspapers can offer readers?

Hard news: Students can analyze hard news stories in these standing
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features from the News section:

Washington Page — News from Capitol Hill. • • • • •

World Page — Coverage of critical issues in the international community. • • • • •

Nation Page — Articles on the issues and trends affecting cities, suburbs and
• • • • •
rural areas.
Nationline — Summaries of the most interesting or important stories from
• • • • •
across the nation.

Lead story and bottom strip — Breaking news and coverage of critical issues. • • • • •

Features: USA TODAY is known for reporting that includes the perspectives of citizens from across the
country. Look for these stories:
News, Sports and Life Covers — Interviews, profiles and traditional news
• • • • •
reporting combined into one, comprehensive article.

Critiques: USA TODAY offers reviews of technology, books, movies, cars, DVDs, travel destinations,
television, personal finance options and sports games. Standing features include:
The Sports Section — Daily coverage of events in high school, college and
• • • • •
professional sports.

Your Money with Sandra Block — Weekly personal finance advice, Money. •

Listen Up — Short, insightful music reviews, Life. •

Personal Technology with Ed Baig — Reviews of the latest, must-have

•
products, Money.

Book Buzz — Reviews, author interviews and the Best Selling Books list, Life. •

Investing with John Waggoner — Tips and strategies for a complex market,
•
Money.
Test Drive — Columnist James Healey gives the pros and cons of new
•
vehicles, Money.
Destinations & Diversions — Reviews of food, wine and travel destinations,
•
Life.

Movie Reviews — Critiques of the latest films, Life. •

New on DVD— The low-down on recent DVD releases, Life. •

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journalism
Editorials: USA TODAY’s editorials and commentaries provide broad and
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often controversial perspectives on current issues. Standing features include:

The Forum — Guest columnists weigh in on the news of the day, News. • • • • •

Today’s Debate — USA TODAY’s editorial board debates a guest

• • • • •
columnist over a current issue, News.
Plain Talk with USA TODAY founder Al Neuharth — Neuharth gives his
•
views on topics ranging from sports to politics to raising children, News.
Keeping Score — Sports columnists comment on compelling events and
• • • • •
athletes, Sports.
On Religion — A Forum piece dealing with religion’s impact on politics
•
and society, News.
Common Ground — Conservative Cal Thomas and liberal Bob Beckel
•
find common ground on a current issue, Forum page (biweekly), News.

On Politics — A blog on all things political, USATODAY.com. • • • • •

The Oval — A blog tracking the Obama presidency. • • • • •

Graphics reporting: USA TODAY’s graphics have set the industry

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standard for combining research and design.
USA TODAY Snapshots® — Graphics in the bottom left-hand corner of
the cover of every section. Snapshots combine research and reporting
• • • • •
with charts and graphs to give readers information on all aspects of
society. (There is no Life Snapshot on Fridays.)
USA TODAY Weather Page — A comprehensive look at the nation’s
weather, including world forecasts and explanations of weather events, • • • • •
News.
USA TODAY Graphics — USA TODAY is well-known for its informative
graphics found in every section of the newspaper. From layouts of the
• • • • •
International Space Station to Census information, graphics offer readers
an easy-to-understand format for complex topics.
Market Trends — A weekly look behind the USA’s stock market
•
movements, Money.

Layout and design:

USA TODAY defines design as the “unifying force that connects our observations and interpretations of
the world to a wide range of readers. Design is the thread that runs through all we do, that connects
the data or information we gather to readers from which they develop concepts and ultimately an
understanding.” By studying the eye-catching page layouts that provide consistency and incorporate
color, intricate graphics and compelling photos, journalism students can learn how design affects the
reader’s experience.

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journalism

Laura Petrecca earned her BA in journalism from the University of Maryland and
an MA in journalism and certificate in business and economics from Columbia
University. She was one of only ten journalists selected for the Knight-Bagehot fel-
lowship at Columbia University for 2001-2002. She has worked as the deputy
bureau chief and a senior editor for Ad Age, a senior editor for Prevention
Magazine, a business reporter/columnist and Sunday business editor for the New
York Post, and is currently a reporter in USA TODAY’s Money section, covering
advertising, marketing and media out of the newspaper’s New York bureau.

Kathy Kiely covers Congress and national politics for USA TODAY’s News section.
She graduated from Princeton University in 1977 with a degree cum laude in
English literature. She was a Knight Fellow at Stanford University in 1990 and
earned an MA in interactive journalism from American University in 2008. She
also serves on the board of trustees for Princeton University’s daily independent
student publication, The Daily Princetonian. Kiely helped coordinate press logistics
for the 2000 political conventions as a member of the Congressional Standing
Committee of Correspondents. She is a past chairman of the National Press Club Scholarship
Committee and a member of the Gridiron Club. Prior to joining USA TODAY in 1998, Kiely cov-
ered the White House for the New York Daily News, was the Washington bureau chief for the
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and was the Washington correspondent for The Pittsburgh Press. She
has covered every presidential campaign since 1980.

Dan Vergano, science correspondent and Web columnist for USA TODAY, earned his BS
degree in aerospace engineering from Penn State University and his MA from George
Washington University in science, technology and public policy. He is a Harvard Fellow of
the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and has written articles for Science, New Scientist,
Men’s Health, The Washington Post and Symmetry magazine. He serves as chairman for the
American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award Committee and was a member of
NAKFI Science Writing Award Committee (2005–2008). Prior to joining USA TODAY, he
served as the D.C. correspondent for the Medical Tribune; the deputy editor for Violence Prevention and
Personal Safety newsletter; a researcher for HealthWeek/Newsweek Productions, PBS and Science News; and
a policy analyst and aerospace engineer at ANSER. Early in his career, he was a clerk for the Food and Drug
Administration, a research fellow for the Joint Institute for the Advancement of Flight Sciences, and a
science and environmental issues writer for New York University.

Kelly Whiteside, a sports reporter, received her BA from Rutgers and her MS from
Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism. Since joining USA TODAY in 2000, she
has covered college football, college basketball, and Olympics and World Cup
soccer. Prior to working for USA TODAY, Whiteside was a staff writer with
Newsday from 1997 to 2000, where she covered college football, basketball and
wrote feature stories. She worked for Sports Illustrated from 1991 to 1997, where
she covered baseball and numerous other sports. She appears on numerous radio
and television shows around the country during the college football season. Whiteside has
received awards from the Newswomen’s Club of New York, the National Association of Black
Journalists, the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Football Writers Association of America.

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