How to Get Featured in USA Today

By Sam Harris, Digital Networking Agency · Last updated 9 August 2026

USA Today is one of the largest general-audience publications in America, and one of the most misunderstood to get into.

Here is how it actually works, and how people get featured on USA Today.

What USA Today is

USA Today is a national daily covering news, money, sports, life and tech for a broad general audience. It is published by USA TODAY Co., renamed from Gannett in late 2025.

It also anchors the USA TODAY Network — more than 200 local publications across some 43 states. That distinction matters: appearing in a Network local title is not the same as appearing on usatoday.com, and some providers blur the two.

The three routes into USA Today

Staff editorial. A USA Today journalist decides your story is worth reporting. Free, earned, and entirely their decision. This is real national journalism and nobody can sell it to you.

Contributor content. A separate section of the site carrying content that USA Today's newsroom did not report. It appears on the usatoday.com domain and carries a visible "Contributor Content" label. It is a legitimate route — it is simply not staff reporting, and it should never be described as such.

Advertising. Display and sponsored placements bought through the commercial side. Clearly marked, priced like media buying.

All three put your name on the domain. Only one involves a journalist choosing to write about you.

USA Today's Business Spotlight — and its limits

Business Spotlight is a Q&A-style business feature many providers offer. It is worth understanding what it is: it sits on the commercial side rather than in the newsroom, entries are short, and links are typically nofollowed.

That does not make it useless. It makes it a specific, modest product — and any provider presenting it as national editorial coverage is misrepresenting it.

  • Staff editorial: nothing. You cannot buy it, and paying anyone claiming otherwise buys you nothing.
  • Contributor content: priced by whoever writes and places it. Ask what the fee covers and whether the article is written to the publication's standard.
  • Advertising: media rates, negotiated commercially. Materially more expensive than either of the above.

Treat any quote that does not specify which route it buys as incomplete.

What USA Today actually covers

The stories that travel here are the ones useful to a general national reader: service journalism, personal finance, health, consumer costs, and original data that says something new.

What does not travel: industry-inside stories, company milestones with no wider stake, and anything a reader outside your sector would need explained twice.

What makes a strong piece

Write for someone who has never heard of your company and has no reason to care yet.

That means leading with the thing that affects them — the cost, the risk, the change, the number — and letting your expertise be the reason the answer is credible. A feature that reads as a company announcement will read that way to every editor who sees it.

How to submit an op-ed or letter to USA Today

USA Today publishes its own submission guidelines, and this route costs nothing:

  • Columns and op-eds: forum@usatoday.com, typically 550–750 words.
  • Letters to the editor: letters@usatoday.com, 200 words or fewer.
  • Submissions must be exclusive — not previously published on a blog or social.
  • AI-generated submissions are not accepted.
  • Paste into the email body rather than attaching a file.
  • Include a two-sentence bio and a current photo you own the rights to.
  • If the Opinion team is interested, expect to hear back within about three business days.

If you have a genuine argument to make, this is the most direct route there is.

How long it takes

  • Op-ed submissions: about three business days for a response if there is interest.
  • Staff editorial: unpredictable. Most pitches to any national outlet go unanswered.
  • Contributor content: typically weeks from brief to publication.

Anyone quoting you a guaranteed date for editorial coverage is quoting something they do not control.

Mistakes that get pitches ignored

  • Pitching the company instead of a story.
  • No news hook, no data, no reason it matters this week.
  • Sending the same paragraph to fifty outlets.
  • Attachments and press-release formatting where a short email would do.
  • Previously published material submitted as exclusive.
  • Earn it. Pitch a real story, or submit an op-ed through the guidelines above. Free.
  • Use a professional feature service. A team develops the angle, writes to the publication's standard and manages placement. Faster and more predictable, which is why most founders choose it.

What to expect from the process

Share your story, our team drafts the piece, you review with revisions until it is exactly right, and nothing publishes until you approve it. We tell you which route we are using, in writing, before anything begins.

Digital Networking Agency writes, edits and places. You keep full editorial control, and nothing goes live without your sign-off.

Put the link where buyers already look: your site, your email signature, your deck, your profiles. Add it to your "as seen in" section using the publication's name accurately.

One rule worth keeping: describe what you actually got. If it is contributor content, do not call it a USA Today investigation. The people who matter check.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to get featured in USA Today?

Staff editorial costs nothing and cannot be bought. Contributor content is priced by whoever writes and places it. Advertising is priced at media rates. Always ask which of the three a quote covers.

How hard is it to get featured in USA Today?

Staff coverage is genuinely hard — national outlets receive far more pitches than they can run. Op-ed submission is more accessible if you have a real argument. Contributor content is the most predictable route.

How long does it take to get featured in USA Today?

Op-ed responses come in around three business days when there is interest. Contributor content typically takes weeks. Staff editorial has no timeline anyone can promise.

How do I submit an op-ed to USA Today?

Email forum@usatoday.com with a 550–750 word column pasted into the body, a two-sentence bio and a current photo. It must be exclusive and not AI-generated.

Will the article say "Contributor Content" on it?

If it is contributor content, yes — the label is visible on the page. That is the publication being straightforward with readers, and you should be equally straightforward when you share it.

Is a USA TODAY Network local paper the same as USA Today?

No. The Network includes 200+ local titles. Appearing in one is real coverage, but it is not usatoday.com, and it should not be presented as the national publication.

Do I need a PR agency to get into USA Today?

No. The op-ed route is free and public. An agency is worth paying for when you want the writing, angle and placement handled, or you are running several outlets at once.