The Daily News is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1919 as the Illustrated Daily News by Joseph Medill Patterson, a subsidiary of the Tribune Company. It was the first successful tabloid in the United States, and reached its peak circulation in 1947, with 2.4 million copies distributed per day. Its success can be attributed to sensational pictorial coverage of crime, scandal, and violence, as well as humorous cartoons and entertainment features.
In addition to a daily print edition, the New York City-based Daily News publishes an online version of its newspaper. The website offers a variety of content, including intense city news coverage, celebrity gossip, classified ads, comics, and a sports section. The website also includes the ability to sign up for a free eNewspaper, which can be delivered directly to a subscriber’s email inbox.
Despite being locked in a battle for circulation with its more sensational rival, the New York Post, the Daily News has remained one of the most popular newspapers in the country, even as it has declined from its mid-20th-century heyday. In the early 21st century, the newspaper was owned by businessman Mortimer B. Zuckerman, who transformed it into an increasingly national, rather than local, publication.
As the newspaper has struggled to remain competitive with online news outlets, it has made several changes to its format and content, primarily in an attempt to attract younger readers. In an effort to cut costs, the paper reduced its circulation in 2016, a move which it hoped would save money while still maintaining its reputation for quality journalism.
In the 1930s, the Daily News was an early user of the Associated Press wirephoto service and developed a large staff of photographers. Its coverage of the Second World War was particularly acclaimed. In 1975, the paper rolled out its most famous headline: “FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD”. This was in response to President Gerald Ford’s veto of a bankruptcy bail-out for the city.
The newspaper has a long history of employing controversial, outspoken writers and columnists, many of whom have gone on to prominent careers in journalism and politics, including William F. Buckley, Lan Samantha Chang, John Hersey, Sargent Shriver, Strobe Talbott, and Calvin Trillin. The newspaper has also been the site of some of the most infamous political scandals in recent history.
In 1990, the Daily News suffered a devastating financial setback when the Tribune Company threatened to buy it, and the newspaper’s ten unions began a five-month strike. The Daily News continued to publish, using non-union replacement workers, but it lost $70 million in the fourth quarter alone. The strike was ultimately resolved, and in 1993 the newspaper returned to its former glory with a large globe on its iconic headquarters at 450 West 33rd Street. This building later became the world headquarters of the Associated Press, and is now part of Manhattan West. The Daily News was bought in 2017 by Tronc, the parent company of the Chicago Tribune.