The Yale Daily News

Founded on January 28, 1878, the Yale Daily News (YDN) is the oldest college daily newspaper in the United States and remains financially and editorially independent. YDN is committed to reporting on the campus, city and world through an innovative, multimedia platform that includes newspapers, magazines, websites and events. In addition to the daily print edition, YDN publishes special issues throughout the year that celebrate Yale’s diversity and culture in collaboration with campus organizations and cultural centers.

In the 1920s, the New York Daily News was one of America’s most popular newspapers. The first tabloid to make it big, the Daily News attracted readers with sensational coverage of crime, scandal and violence, lurid photographs, and a variety of cartoons and entertainment features. The newspaper was frequently in competition with its rival, the more prestigious New York Post, but it was ultimately successful in its mission to attract a broad audience of New Yorkers who wanted both local and national news and information.

A well-reported and deeply sympathetic account of what happens when a community loses its local newspaper. Andrew Conte explores the way that technology is upending the journalism business, throwing thousands of reporters out of work and closing newsrooms, leaving vast areas with no traditional sources of news, known as “news deserts.” He also looks at what has replaced the lost news coverage in places like McKeesport, Pennsylvania, where a century-old daily paper went under in 2015. Conte’s book is a timely reminder of the importance of a free press.