Tronc Acquires Daily News
Founded in 1919, the Daily News has long been a dominant force in the city’s newspaper market. The tabloid newspaper is renowned for its zesty headlines — “Ford to City: Drop Dead!” during New York’s financial crisis in 1975 was a classic example — and for its city coverage, gossip, and star columnists including Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill. It has also won multiple Pulitzer Prizes, most recently in 2012 for a story exposing how the city used an obscure law to evict hundreds of families. The News is owned by Tribune Publishing and headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Originally known as the Illustrated Daily News, the paper launched in 1919. As the first successful American daily printed in tabloid format, it grew quickly by attracting readers with sensational stories of crime and scandal, lurid photographs, and entertainment features. Its popularity reached its peak in 1947, when it had a circulation of more than 2.4 million.
The paper remained popular in the postwar period and in the decades that followed, despite a decline in its circulation as competing tabloids gained prominence. The Daily News remained profitable, though its editorial stances shifted toward the left. In recent years, the newspaper has been criticized for its high level of bias and lack of fact checking. The News has a strong liberal slant and uses loaded words to appeal to emotions and stereotypes, which can be a cause for concern in terms of its reliability.
In the latest deal, Tronc acquires the News for $1 and assumes the newspaper’s operational and pension liabilities. It also takes over the News’ Jersey City printing plant and a 25-acre property overlooking Manhattan. The company plans to invest in the newspaper’s digital operations, refocus its print edition on the New York metropolitan area, and increase its local coverage.
Aside from its main publication, the Daily News also publishes several other periodicals and operates a number of websites. Its flagship website, the News, offers a variety of interactive tools and features that allow users to interact with news articles in new ways. The News also maintains an online archive of its print publications, allowing users to browse through past issues and search for specific articles.
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