Reply #7: USA Today is owned by Gannett. 'Nuff said.

[Rob H.]

I used to work for a Gannett paper, The Idaho Statesman, in Boise, Idaho, and even for a Red State paper, they're right-wing. They spun the result of the Florida recount which showed that under two of the four recount standards that USA Today and the Miami Herald used, Gore would have won Florida and the presidency. They pooh-poohed Bush's drunk driving arrest, as did the rest of the media, as a "youthful indescretion" while simultaneously calling Gore a liar for saying things which were later proven to be true. Instead of showing the damage to NYC or the Pentagon in the wake of 9/11, which would've been understandable, that Friday they had Saint Shrubya's face taking up a big portion of page one. (That he looked as if he were about to cry didn't help matters.) These are just the examples I can think of off the top of my head; I'm sure there are many others that I've forgotten.

Obviously I can't speak to the behavior of other Gannett papers since I only worked at the one in Idaho--and it was such a negative experience that I'm never working for a newspaper again, regardless of its ownership--but it wouldn't surprise me to find out that all of their papers lean right.

FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, but you already knew that) has this page dedicated to Gannett and USA Today, for those who'd like a bit more information.