PROFITS: McPaper Has Made It

When Gannett President John Curley wanted to alert Chairman Allen Neuharth that their five-year-old national newspaper (circ. 1.5 million) had broken into the black, the telegram was as short and peppy as any USA Today headline: MCPAPER HAS MADE IT. Thanks mainly to a 45% increase in ad revenues over last year, USA Today converted a nearly $900,000 loss in April to a $1.09 million profit in May. That was a pittance compared with the losses of nearly $400 million that Gannett is reported to have suffered since USA Today hit the newsstands in September 1982, but the first earnings were...