An Appreciation Of USA Today’s Travel Industry Coverage

Doubletree brought me a copy of USA Today this morning and it served as a reminder that the Gannett flagship is still providing the best and most comprehensive coverage of the travel industry.

Today the stories include a thorough look at the troubles at Boeing,  a story about the soaring prices of taxi licenses in New York and a story about the expansion of the Panama Canal. Several other stories are of interest to travelers, including one about credit card fees. Online, the travel section is full of interesting wire stories and blog posts, including one about a woman who paid $32,000 to fly her dog in first class, another about cost-cutting at hotels and another about  celebrities who like to cruise

If you think it’s OK for newspapers to die because you’ll still be able to get this level of coverage online, think again. These stories and blog entries were written by newspaper reporters, sort of an endangered species right now. The fewer of them that newspaper employ, the less news you’re going to get.