Photo Credit 1: A man on the subway reads a copy of “USA Today.” By Joseph Nicolia from Herndon, USA (043/366 b) [CC-BY-SA-

USA Today is the most successful and highly visible newspaper that you may have seen and read on a national basis. This case provides an overview of Gannett Publishing’s strategic marketing approach to launching and growing this unique newspaper.

2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)]

Overview:

As the entire newspaper industry sits on the brink of collapse, Gannett and USA Today are working to avoid disaster and transform the nation’s most read newspaper into tomorrow’s best resource for news and information. This case reviews the history of USA Today, including its continued use of innovation to stay on top of the technological and sociocultural shifts that are rapidly changing the newspaper industry. In the face of continual competition across a variety of media sources, the future of USA Today depends on its ability to continually push the envelope of innovation and offer value- added, proprietary content to ensure continued differentiation and the future of the USA Today brand.

Instructions:

• Read the case study, Case 1: USA Today: Innovation in an Evolving Industry, at the back of the text.
• Research current articles about the company and its marketing strategy.
• Answer the Questions for Discussion at the end of the case. Use your research to back up your answers.

Requirements:

• The paper for this assignment should be 2 pages long, double-spaced, to include a separate cover sheet and reference page.
• You should include a minimum of 4 outside references, in APA format. If you quote the text, cite it, but do not include it as an outside reference.

Students: Be sure to read the criteria, by which your paper/project will be evaluated, before you write, and again after you write.

Evaluation Rubric for USA Today Case Study Assignment

	Excellent 20 – 18 points	Very Good17.9 – 16 points	Average15.9 – 14 points	NeedsImprovement13.9 – 0 points
Content 20 Points	The topic addresses the assignment,is substantive, and well-formulated	The topic is clear and addresses the assignment	The topic is clearly stated but body is not well-formulated	The topic is not well-formulated
Supporting Information 20 points	Supporting information and detail are used effectively tosupport the topic	Supporting information and details are explained sufficiently	There is some supporting detail, not enough tosupport argument	There is a lack of supporting information and detail
Organization 20 points	The organization is particularly well- suited to the topic	The organization is appropriate to the topic	There is evidence of some organization, but is not consistent throughout the paper	The organization selected does not fit the context, or is a poor selection given the context
Preparation and Ongoing Developmen t20 points	Paper demonstrates that there was thorough preparation.The paper was well- designed and executed	Paper demonstrates that there was sufficient preparation for adequate delivery. Mechanics were sound	There is some evidence of preparation but there are problems with mechanics	Paper demonstrates a lack of preparation. Mechanics were poor.
	Excellent 10 – 9 points	Very Good8.9 – 8 points	Average7.9 – 7 points	NeedsImprovement6.9 – 0 points
Grammar 10 points	The presentation exhibits skilled use of grammatical elements	Presentation meets basic requirements of college-level writing	There is some evidence ofcollege-level writing but needs work	Presentation is not appropriate to college- level
References 10 points	Work displays skilled use of APA citation method	Work includes references, but there are problems with APA method	There are some references/citations but no clear citation methods	Work displays no or few references