
At some point of every weekday you'll find me like this (no, not goofing off) - keeping up to date by reading my favorite newspaper,
USA Today. I've been reading it faithfully since 1987 or so, when it was commonly referred to as
McPaper. The paper probably deserved that derisive moniker back in those days, but now it has matured into a respectable news source. Don't expect snobby readers of the
New York Times or
Wall Street Journal to admit it, but it's true. This has happened very conveniently for me as I've become much more interested in the
political and
financial pages since my teenage days, when the
Sports (which is
the best source of
boxing news) and
Life sections were my faves. To me, the beauty of the paper is that it can be read in 10 or
15 minutes, which is about all the time I have to give to reading during the work day. One
Journal feature story, while almost always excellent, can easily take up that time. And I also like the balanced political coverage... none of the elite liberal viewpoint of the
Times here. I'm also a fan of the national scope of the paper; city-centric papers don't have extra benefits for those of us who don't live in that city. The paper's real flaw is the lack of local coverage, but I can live with occasionally checking out the
Norwich Bulletin to make sure I know what's happening near where I live.