The Daily News
The Daily News is a morning tabloid newspaper published in New York City. Founded in 1919, the paper was America’s first successful tabloid, and for most of its history was the largest newspaper in the United States with a circulation exceeding one million copies per day. The Daily News attracted readers with sensational coverage of crime, scandal, and violence, lurid photographs, and cartoons and other entertainment features. The paper also attracted the attention of advertisers because it was able to sell large display advertisements in addition to print ads.
The paper was originally called the Illustrated Daily News. It was established by Joseph Medill Patterson, a publisher of the Chicago Tribune. The newspaper launched in New York City in 1919, and quickly gained a reputation for its hard-hitting style and extensive use of photographs. By the end of its first decade, the Daily News had surpassed the circulation of its larger rival, the Chicago Tribune.
In the 1950s, the newspaper expanded into television and radio. It created the WPIX TV station, whose call letters were inspired by the News’ nickname “New York’s Picture Newspaper.” It also owned and operated the AM radio station WFAN, which was simulcast on WPIX. The Radio and TV stations were both housed in the former News building in downtown Manhattan.
At its peak in the 1970s, the Daily News had a total circulation of around one million. It was renowned for its brassy, pictorial coverage of major news events and for its columnists, including Ed Sullivan, who went on to host the Ed Sullivan Show. The paper was the first major American daily to adopt a color press, and it produced a variety of popular special sections, including the comics section and an entertainment section featuring star interviews and celebrity gossip.
During the 1980s, the paper began to suffer from declining profits and labor costs. In 1985, the Tribune Company negotiated with unions to eliminate four hundred jobs at the paper. After a five-month strike, the Daily News continued to publish using non-union replacement workers, but lost almost $115 million in just one quarter of operation.
By 1993, the Daily News was on the verge of extinction. Its circulation had declined to less than 800,000 copies a day, about a third of its 1940s heyday. In an attempt to turn the corner, Zuckerman invested $60 million in a color press and repositioned the newspaper as a “serious tabloid.” The strategy paid off: by 1995, the Daily News had returned to profitability.
In addition to its main paper, the Yale Daily News publishes a Friday supplement known as WKND, the Weekly Magazine and several special issues each year. The News has also partnered with cultural centers and student organizations to produce issue-specific supplements focused on the African American, Latino, Asian American, and Pacific Islander communities at Yale. The Yale Daily News is the nation’s oldest college daily newspaper and is editorially and financially independent from the university.