Beusse out at USA Today Sports

[steveu]

I think the website (sports anyway) is a hideous mashup of trite gossip and nonsense. Can't find stories of substance displayed. And the print product's Monday NFL coverage is clearly not an improvement over the past. There's even less space for too many roundups.

Agreed. A couple sports sections were what, 10 pages on a Monday? Unacceptable. You need at least 14 to recap the weekend's action, at least during the fall.

 

[DanOregon]

If the point of a website is to get people to spend more time there and click more stories - it hasn't worked. I click a lot less of their stuff than I used to.

 

[Joe Williams]

If the point of a website is to get people to spend more time there and click more stories - it hasn't worked. I click a lot less of their stuff than I used to.

This is it.

 

[geddymurphy]

The biggest change at USAT is that it has gone from being cold, sterile and mechanical to being ... exciting, I guess? Maybe a little too exciting at times?

They cleared out a lot of dead weight. A lot. Quite dead. They also got rid of some good people who didn't fit the Beusse/Morgan "sexier is better" mold but were more flexible than Beusse and Morgan realize.

They've hired a ton of good people. And some kids who are enjoying the chance to be Deadspin Lite.

Meanwhile, Gannett Blog and its readers know even less about sports than they do about the rest of the news business.

 

[Totally Krossed Out]

The biggest change at USAT is that it has gone from being cold, sterile and mechanical to being ... exciting, I guess? Maybe a little too exciting at times?

They cleared out a lot of dead weight. A lot. Quite dead. They also got rid of some good people who didn't fit the Beusse/Morgan "sexier is better" mold but were more flexible than Beusse and Morgan realize.

They've hired a ton of good people. And some kids who are enjoying the chance to be Deadspin Lite.

Meanwhile, Gannett Blog and its readers know even less about sports than they do about the rest of the news business.

Given the talent and size of the editorial staff that USA TODAY Sports has hired under Morgan, I'm not sure Deadspin Lite was what they were striving for. Nor something to be proud of.

 

[geddymurphy]

The biggest change at USAT is that it has gone from being cold, sterile and mechanical to being ... exciting, I guess? Maybe a little too exciting at times?

They cleared out a lot of dead weight. A lot. Quite dead. They also got rid of some good people who didn't fit the Beusse/Morgan "sexier is better" mold but were more flexible than Beusse and Morgan realize.

They've hired a ton of good people. And some kids who are enjoying the chance to be Deadspin Lite.

Meanwhile, Gannett Blog and its readers know even less about sports than they do about the rest of the news business.

Given the talent and size of the editorial staff that USA TODAY Sports has hired under Morgan, I'm not sure Deadspin Lite was what they were striving for. Nor something to be proud of.

It's not all Deadspin Lite, but that's definitely part of what Morgan was trying to bring to the table.

 

[icoverbucks]

The first thing I always went to was the Sports on TV column, used to run Mondays and maybe Thursdays. Great recap of weekend's events and previewing weekend coverage of major events. Martzke then Hiestand I believe. Those guys did a great job. I know others cover that stuff, but that was interesting to me. Sad we don't get that any more ... and we pay more money for the paper to boot.

 

[Fran Curci]

They are doing a lot of bad journalism in their lust for web clicks. Headline on sports home page asks if LeBron will go to L.A. now that Kobe has a new contract. But story mentions LeBron low in story, only in passing, and doesn't even address the question.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/lakers/2013/11/25/kobe-bryant-contract-extension-los-angeles-carmel-anthony-lebron-james-2014-free-agents/3707885/