Allen Neuharth
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Allen H. Neuharth (born March 22, 1924, Eureka, South Dakota) is an American businessman, author and columnist. He is the founder of USA Today.
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[edit] Early life
At the age of 19, Neuharth served in the Army in World War II. As a member of the U.S. 86th Infantry Division, Neuharth was deployed to France, Germany and the Philippines.
[edit] Education
After the war, Neuharth went to the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, where he edited the school newspaper, The Volante. He is still affiliated with the university to this day and has an office in the Contemporary Media and Journalism building, The Al Neuharth Media Center.
[edit] News career
Neuharth and fellow USD alum Bill Porter founded SoDak Sports, a weekly newspaper devoted to covering the sports scene in South Dakota. Despite its initial popularity, SoDak went bankrupt in a year's time.
After his failure, Al went to the Miami Herald, where he made his way up to assistant managing editor. Then, the Knight newspaper chain (later a part of Knight-Ridder), which owned the Herald, sent Al to its Detroit Free Press, which was fighting an uphill battle with the Detroit News, which Neuharth would later buy while at Gannett.
After Al realized that he could go no further in the Knight organization due to the Knight family's complete control, Neuharth accepted Gannett head Paul Miller's offer to head to Gannett's HQ in Rochester, New York, first to run its paper there, the Democrat and Chronicle; then to run the boardroom under Miller, who he eventually succeeded. Al helped to build Gannett into the largest newspaper company in the U.S.
[edit] USA Today
Neuharth founded USA Today, the most widely read newspaper in the country. Neuharth retired from Gannett in 1989, at the age of 65.
On December 22, 2004, Neuharth sparked controversy when he called in his column for American troops to be brought home from the "ill-advised adventures" in Iraq, which he compared to the immorality of the Vietnam war. Neuharth also stated that if he were eligible for service in Iraq, he would do everything possible to avoid it.
[edit] References
- Neuharth, Al. Confessions of an S.O.B. Doubleday, 1989
[edit] External links
- Editor & Publisher, Neuharth Call for Pullout in Iraq Draws Massive Response
- USA Today, They can only dream of holidays at home 12/22/2004
- USA Today, 'Shock and awe' or shame and sorrow? 12/16/2004
- USA Today Dead or alive, slick Castro still smirking 8/3/2006de:Al Neuharth
