The Daily News
A daily newspaper is a type of publication that contains information about current events and is published every day. It covers a wide range of topics including politics, business, sports, and culture. A daily newspaper is a great way to stay up to date on the latest news in your community.
The Daily News was the first tabloid in the United States and reached its peak circulation in 1947. The newspaper’s large photographs, intense city news coverage, celebrity gossip, classified ads, and cartoons set it apart from its competitors. It is also notable for being the first to print a photograph of an electric chair execution, a story which received international attention and was instrumental in helping bring about reforms to the death penalty.
In the 1930s, the Daily News was in need of more space for its expanding editorial department and advertising staff. Publisher Patterson commissioned architects Raymond Hood and John Mead Howells to design a 36-story freestanding Art Deco building, which would become known as the Daily News Building. The building was the inspiration for the Daily Planet in the Superman franchise, and its imposing presence gave the newspaper an air of authority and sophistication.
By the end of the 1930s, the Daily News had surpassed its nearest rival, The New York Times, in circulation. However, the beginning of the 1940s marked a decline in the newspaper’s fortunes. The Depression brought with it economic hardship and the introduction of new competing papers such as The Times and The Post, which competed with the Daily News for the attention of the public. During this time, the Daily News began to shift its political affiliations from a staunch Republican to a more centrist stance, which was reflected in its slogan “The eyes, the ears, the honest voice of New York”.
A multi-union strike in 1978 further depressed the paper’s circulation and profits. Although the strike also affected its major competitors, The New York Times and The New York Post, the Daily News was hit harder, shedding 145,000 daily readers in just three months.
Throughout the 1980s, the Daily News continued to suffer losses as its management yielded to union demands on such issues as rules, job numbers and overtime. By 1990, the Daily News was operating at a loss of $1 million a month. It was at this point that the newspaper’s parent company, the Tribune Company, offered it for sale.
In 1991, controversial British media mogul Robert Maxwell purchased the Daily News, along with his other newspapers, including The Mirror and London’s Daily Telegraph. In 1995, the Daily News left its home of 65 years, the News Building, and moved to a single floor office at 5 Manhattan West. In 1996, the paper started publishing a quarterly (later monthly) insert BET Weekend for African Americans, which rapidly became a national success. The following year, the Daily News launched its website. This online newspaper archive contains all issues of the Daily News from 1919 to 2024.