A daily newspaper that focuses on the people and places of New York City. In addition to the main article, each day’s issue includes editorial pieces, news analysis and opinion. The paper also features extensive photography, entertainment coverage, celebrity gossip, classified ads, a sports section and cartoons.
The daily news was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson, the publisher of Chicago Tribune. He hoped to take the tabloid format that had proven so successful in the Windy City and make it work in New York, a much more difficult market. He renamed the publication the Daily News and quickly established it as one of America’s most prominent newspapers. Its success was due in large part to sensational pictorial coverage, and a willingness to go beyond competitors in pursuit of an attention-grabbing front page. This was never more evident than in 1928, when reporter Tom Howard strapped a small hidden camera to his leg and captured the image of Ruth Snyder being electrocuted in the electric chair for murdering her husband. The photograph was published the following day with the headline “DEAD!”
In 1947, the Daily News reached its peak of circulation, with more than one million daily readers. At this time, the paper was a leading contender for the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished journalism and employed a staff of noted writers. In particular, its international coverage was renowned for excellence and helped propel the newspaper to great national prominence.
During this period, the Daily News was also an early user of the Associated Press wirephoto service and employed a staff of photographers that rivaled any in the nation. The Daily News was also a leader in promoting the careers of popular entertainers such as Ed Sullivan.
By the 1970s, however, financial difficulties and declining readership had begun to take their toll on the newspaper. By the 1980s, the paper was operating at a loss of over $1 million per month and had yielded to union demands for changes in rules, staffing and overtime.
In 1991, controversial British media mogul Robert Maxwell purchased the paper. He was able to purchase the Daily News at a fraction of its value in the 1940s, thanks to contracts he had already successfully negotiated with the newspaper’s ten unions. Under the leadership of new editors-in-chief, first Pete Hamill and then Debby Krenek, the Daily News earned a reputation for its commitment to protect the rights of the people of New York City, especially those who were perceived to have no voice. This commitment was underscored by the winning of a Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary in 1996 for E.R. Shipp’s pieces on race and welfare issues, and again in 1998 for Mike McAlary’s coverage of police brutality against Haitian immigrant Abner Louima. In late 1990s, the paper developed a completely electronic publishing system, claimed to be the first metropolitan paper in the world to do so. The newspaper’s offices at 220 East 42nd Street were designed by Raymond Hood and John Mead Howells, and served as the model for the Daily Planet building in the Superman movies.