usa today

[yarrow]

i always enjoy the morning paper when traveling in sleeper. especially a paper from the region we are traveling through. it seems lately this paper is, more often than not, usa today which is not a favorite of mine. are there just no local papers any more or has amtrak decided usa today is what we want?

 

[amamba]

I bet it depends on what is available in the area. When traveling on the EB, I received some sort of local MT paper the first morning. In the lounges in BOS & NYP they regularly stock the New York Times and the Boston Globe. They generally have a huge stack of New York Times in the FC car on the acela.

My guess is it just depends on what is available regionally. As small town papers go out of business, it might be easier for them to do USA Today while in certain areas of the country.

 

[CHamilton]

Regional papers are still being offered on many trains. I've recently seen the Oregonian, the Seattle Times, the Spokane Spokesman-Review, the Daily Inter Lake, and others. I have seen USA Today, but seemingly only when no other options are available.

 

[Bob Dylan]

On my last LD Trip to the East Coast and Return via the TE/CL/SM/SS/Regional#66(BC)/DE(BC)/LSL//TE I received the following papers: TE:USA Today(AUS)- St. Louis Local(STL)/ CL: Chicago Tribune-USA Today/ SM: USA Today/SS: USA Today/#66: NY Times/DE: Boston Globe-Portland Beaver(??? :giggle: ) /LSL: USA Today/TE: USA Today

So, as others have said, it depends on the Train and where you are! Ive been told it's done by Contract by the Route Manager for the Trains that have this Service and IINM, USA Today is Published all over by various Papers in Regional Editions??? :unsure:

 

[johnny.menhennet]

I know that the circumstances are different, but in BC on the Surfliner, whichever city the train leaves from first, it has THAT paper. All of the first northbound runs with the exception of old 799 have the San Diego Union Tribune, while most of the morning southbounds out of LA are stocked with the LA Times. I really enjoy San Diego's paper, and it would be a shame if they ever switched it over.

 

[J-1 3235]

On my last LD Trip to the East Coast and Return via the TE/CL/SM/SS/Regional#66(BC)/DE(BC)/LSL//TE I received the following papers: TE:USA Today(AUS)- St. Louis Local(STL)/ CL: Chicago Tribune-USA Today/ SM: USA Today/SS: USA Today/#66: NY Times/DE: Boston Globe-Portland Beaver(??? :giggle: ) /LSL: USA Today/TE: USA Today

Holy acronyms, Batman! :giggle:

 

[jis]

On the Silver Meteor I got New York Times at Washington DC.

 

[fairviewroad]

USA Today isn't even a daily paper, so you'd have to have some sort of alternative for part of the week anyway.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I saw quite a bit of USA Today on recent trips. Also seen one regional paper, forgot the name.

 

[TimePeace]

If I get a USA Today on the sleeper, I just leave it for someone else. No thanks.

 

[lthanlon]

I've received the Minot Daily News while on the Empire Builder, and the Omaha World-Herald on the California Zephyr. I've been given the Albuquerque Journal during the Southwest Chief's service stop. On my own, when the Chief stops in La Junta, Colorado, I like to pop into the station and grab some free farm-and-ranch weeklies and shoppers. I've also occasionally received The New York Times or USA Today. I always bring a bunch of quarters in the hope of snagging a small-town paper from a vending machine, but these are becoming more and more scarce.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

I've always enjoyed being handed The Oregonian as we leave K-Falls since in addition to having a nice over view of national and world news, it has a load of fun and interesting small town local news that really makes you feel like part of the landscape as the Starlight wanders through the small Oregon towns.

 

[CHamilton]

I've always enjoyed being handed The Oregonian as we leave K-Falls since in addition to having a nice over view of national and world news, it has a load of fun and interesting small town local news that really makes you feel like part of the landscape as the Starlight wanders through the small Oregon towns.

Agreed. Unfortunately, it's having problems, like many other daily newspapers. Amtrak may have difficulties finding other options.

http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-19535-stop_the_presses.html

Stop the Presses

The Oregonian may not be a daily newspaper much longer.

 

[Ispolkom]

I can't start the morning without a newspaper, and hate USA Today. On Amtrak or in a hotel, my preference is (in descending order) the local newspaper, the Financial Times, the New York Times, or the Wall Street Journal.

On our last trip we got the San Luis Obispo Tribune on a Pacific Surfliner that started in that city, USA Today and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on the Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle.

On the westbound Empire Builder I usually get the Minot Daily News and the Spokane Spokesman-Review. Eastbound it's the Whitefish Inter Lake and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

The worst is getting the Sunday New York Times on the eastbound Capitol Limited. I feel obliged to finish it by arrival in Washington.

That World-Herald headline is a classic example of the local angle.

 

[saxman]

USA Today is probably the paper that's most wildly available it seems. I read it most because thats the paper that most available in all the hotels I stay at. I assume it's the same for Amtrak. It's easy to get, and it's probably cheap for them. It's only published Monday-Friday, so I've noticed on weekends, we end up getting the local paper for which ever city we're near. I also prefer a local paper because I like to read about the local events going on in different towns. USA Today, obviously, just covers the nation in general, but I still find it to be mostly unbiased.

 

[afigg]

The USA Today is an ok national paper. Does not provide deep news coverage, but the advantage is that the printed paper does not take long to read. The only time I bother with the printed edition is when I get it free at hotels.

By the end of this decade, I suspect printed local daily newspapers will hard to find. If Amtrak is still providing printed newspapers, the choice will be the surviving major newspapers - NY Times, Wash Post, LA Times, USA Today, etc - that can still afford to print newspapers every day or weekly local papers for the holdouts who want to read old fashioned newsprint. The rest will be reading the news - if they still read the news - on their tablet computer or unrolled e-ink sheet.

 

[lthanlon]

That World-Herald headline is a classic example of the local angle.

As the CZ headed west just after sunrise, we did see many pheasant hunters out in the stubble fields.

 

[lthanlon]

I don't mind getting USA Today, but I'd rather have a local paper. By the way, considering the huge number of vending boxes and displays at airports, train stations and such, I just about never see anybody buying or reading USA Today. Is much of its circulation still to hotels? Where are all those copies going?

 

[fairviewroad]

I don't mind getting USA Today, but I'd rather have a local paper. By the way, considering the huge number of vending boxes and displays at airports, train stations and such, I just about never see anybody buying or reading USA Today. Is much of its circulation still to hotels? Where are all those copies going?

I'm guessing a large number of them end up in the trash or recycling bin. But the point isn't how many people actually read it, it's how many copies are distributed. That's the

number that USA Today shows to advertisers. Whether it's a good value for the advertisers is a matter of debate. I'm sure USA Today would love to become Amtrak's

exclusive paper of distribution, since that would boost their circulation figures higher. But as we've seen on this thread, that wouldn't be popular among many riders, plus

it's not a daily paper, plus the paper is probably not available in places like Minot or Klamath Falls.

 

[trainman74]

I was on the Southwest Chief in late August 2005 while Hurricane Katrina was hitting New Orleans. I got a USA Today in my roomette, but I bought a copy of the Albuquerque Journal during the Albuquerque stop. It had more and better news coverage of Katrina than USA Today did -- because USA Today didn't break their standard format to provide more news, but the Journal did (they used part of what would normally be their metro section).

 

[Devil's Advocate]

USA Today is like a printed version of the Today show.

Soft news and softball interviews for soft minds.

As for what happens to all those unread copies pushed on hotels and trains...

 

[haolerider]

USA Today is like a printed version of the Today show.

Soft news and softball interviews for soft minds.

As for what happens to all those unread copies pushed on hotels and trains...

Ironically, for all the bad/negative comments about USA Today, it appears to be profitable, which cannot be said for most of the medium or small town newspapers. Papers are going to an internet format and many of them are charging fees for non-subscribers. Some mornings all I want is some soft news.......if I want more I use my I-Pad to access the WSJ or NY Times headlines.

 

[saxman]

I don't mind getting USA Today, but I'd rather have a local paper. By the way, considering the huge number of vending boxes and displays at airports, train stations and such, I just about never see anybody buying or reading USA Today. Is much of its circulation still to hotels? Where are all those copies going?

I'm guessing a large number of them end up in the trash or recycling bin. But the point isn't how many people actually read it, it's how many copies are distributed. That's the

number that USA Today shows to advertisers. Whether it's a good value for the advertisers is a matter of debate. I'm sure USA Today would love to become Amtrak's

exclusive paper of distribution, since that would boost their circulation figures higher. But as we've seen on this thread, that wouldn't be popular among many riders, plus

it's not a daily paper, plus the paper is probably not available in places like Minot or Klamath Falls.

It's pretty much available anywhere, including Minot and Klamath Falls. I got one in Minot the other day when I was there. The only days it's not published is on Saturdays and Sundays.

 

[fairviewroad]

I don't mind getting USA Today, but I'd rather have a local paper. By the way, considering the huge number of vending boxes and displays at airports, train stations and such, I just about never see anybody buying or reading USA Today. Is much of its circulation still to hotels? Where are all those copies going?

I'm guessing a large number of them end up in the trash or recycling bin. But the point isn't how many people actually read it, it's how many copies are distributed. That's the

number that USA Today shows to advertisers. Whether it's a good value for the advertisers is a matter of debate. I'm sure USA Today would love to become Amtrak's

exclusive paper of distribution, since that would boost their circulation figures higher. But as we've seen on this thread, that wouldn't be popular among many riders, plus

it's not a daily paper, plus the paper is probably not available in places like Minot or Klamath Falls.

It's pretty much available anywhere, including Minot and Klamath Falls. I got one in Minot the other day when I was there. The only days it's not published is on Saturdays and Sundays.

OK, fair enough. I suppose it's possible to have a paper printed anywhere these days as long as there's a local press, which there would be if a town has a local paper.

But yes, not being published on Sat/Sun does indeed make it not a daily paper, in the same way that the Cardinal and the Sunset Limited are not daily trains.