NEW USA TODAY DEBUTS TODAY - NEW LOGO, NEW DESIGN

EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS

A totally-redesigned USA Today is hitting stores and newspaper boxes in Bethesda this morning.  After 30 years, America's newspaper has a new logo.

This robot came out of storage at
USA Today headquarters yesterday,
to join in the celebration

Bound to cause a reaction after 3 decades of the paper's familiar globe design, the new logo is a clean, modern and abstract globe-like shape, that can morph into infinite variations, to fit different themes.  A special 5th section in today's edition - called USA Tomorrow - will attempt to add substance to the new direction the redesign represents.

Inside his newspaper box window is
the big reveal:  new logo, new design

USA Today trucks were spotted around downtown Washington overnight, replacing the iconic USA today boxes with new ones bearing the new logo.  Expect the website to follow suit soon as well.

When traveling, I always deduct a star from the hotel/motel's rating if a USA Today doesn't slide under the door in the morning.  If you don't offer a copy of America's newspaper free to guests, as far as I'm concerned, you can't call yourself a hotel!  It's also the newspaper I pick up when there is a long flight ahead.  Frankly, it blows away the Washington Post, particularly after the Post stopped covering Montgomery County politics in a serious fashion.

Hopefully this redesign will give USA Today at least another 30 years, in a very tough industry of print journalism.