McPaper has never been a big part of my media diet. In print and online, even when traveling, I'm more of a Gray Lady type of guy. That said, USA Today arguably had a bigger influence on the industry I entered six years ago and my earliest impressions of it than any other single publication.

Founded the year I was born, USA Today pioneered the color photos, infographics, branded sections and quick-read news items that had spread to virtually every newspaper — even The Gray Lady — by the time I graduated from journalism school 22 years later. On a personal level, USA Today, which followed my twin brother and his kindergarten classmates for 13 years for its series on America's high school class of 2000, gave me my first inside look at the journalistic process.

How influential will The Nation's Newspaper be over the next quarter century, a span that will cover the prime of my journalism career, and, of greater concern to all of you, settle many — but probably not all — of the questions being asked now about the future of the industry? That remains to be seen. But the chances it will at least have a seat at the table were boosted last week when it announced, along with 130 layoffs, a major restructuring, effective immediately, from a print first to a digital first news organization.

Digital First. From the Christian Science Monitor's ending its weekday print edition, to, more recently, Allbritton Communications' new TBD local news website and the Journal Register Company's Ben Franklin Project and ideaLab, it's a term that's come up a lot lately. It's a concept legacy media organizations — admirably led by those listed above — have only recently started embracing in earnest. Yet, it's already a buzzword. Like "fair and balanced." Like "breaking news." Like, a subject for a future post, "interactive." No matter how many times you say it, merely calling it such doesn't make it such.

A way of operating, working and thinking

So, before we get too far into this, what, precisely, does it mean to be "digital first"?

I'll break the old journalists' rule and ask as much as I answer here. That itself — both breaking rules and asking questions — I'd proffer, is a big part of digital first. At the most basic level, digital first is this:

• It's a business model. This is the money part. Not surprisingly, it's the part that gets the most attention.

  A digital first business model recognizes that print and broadcast advertising revenue won't support news gathering over the long term. In pursuit of sustainability, it might do some radical things, like forgo short-term revenue opportunities, more closely coordinate editorial and business operations and charge consumers for online content. Like it or not, believe it or not, each is likely to be at least a small part of the new reality.

• It's a workflow. This gets its share of attention, but mostly in spaces like ours, where, you know, audiences appreciate that journalism doesn't just materialize and that those who create it are human beings with hearts, minds and, yes, even souls.

  A digital first workflow recognizes that the process is becoming the product. It leverages new methods for finding, assembling and sharing stories, methods that sometimes can perform all three functions at once.

• It's a mindset. This gets the least amount of attention. And that's a shame. While the other two components are resource-dependent, everyone possesses the necessary equipment to start putting this one into action right away.

  A digital first mindset recognizes that with the static Web, social Web and mobile Web all coming of age during the lives of this fall's college freshmen, change is the only constant. What digital encompasses and therefore what must come first can change at a moment's notice. This means being proactive not reactive. It means not being afraid of problems and not getting too attached to solutions.

For more about USA Today's transition, we recommend checking out the newspaper's internal slide presentation and Ken Doctor's blog post for an overview, then heading to the Gannett Blog and BNET's Catharine P. Taylor's column for some criticism.

For more about digital first in general, this June piece from the Strange Attractor blog, Jeff Jarvis' January interview with Journal Register Company CEO John Paton and TBD's Steve Buttry's series of mobile first posts are all good reads.

What do you think of USA Today's restructuring? What does digital first mean to you?

Modified Creative Commons photo by Flickr user clevercupcakes.