The Daily News, founded in 1919, is the first tabloid newspaper in the United States. It has long been a major New York City news source. The paper is currently owned by tronc, which bought the paper in 2017. Its editorial offices are located in New York City, and the Daily News publishes both print and online editions. Its website features a wide range of content, including local news and events, entertainment, sports, classified ads, comics, and an opinion section.
The early 1920s saw the Daily News grow rapidly. It emphasized sensational pictorial coverage, and was a pioneer in the use of wire photo services. The Daily News was also an early adopter of the Ed Sullivan Show, and it hired columnists such as the flamboyant Ben Hecht. The Daily News was a leading paper during the Great Depression and World War II, and in 1947 it reached its highest circulation. At the time, the Daily News was America’s most popular newspaper.
Its success was not without its problems, however. In the late 1950s and 1960s, it struggled to adapt to the changing media environment. Competition from television and radio began to put pressure on the newspaper industry. The Daily News was especially hard hit because of its high labor costs. In the 1970s, its management was plagued by financial difficulties, and circulation declined significantly. In the early 1980s, the Daily News was in serious debt and was attempting to reduce its labor costs. It was at this time that the Daily News’s reputation as a union-buster was born. The Daily News hired non-union workers in an attempt to cut labor costs. This move backfired, and the Daily News’s ten unions went on strike for five months.
After the 1990s, the Daily News began to turn around its fortunes. It won a Pulitzer Prize in 1996 for E.R. Shipp’s coverage of welfare and other social issues, and in 1998 it won another Pulitzer for Mike McAlary’s articles on police brutality against Haitian immigrant Abner Louima. The Daily News also developed a strong reputation for protecting the First Amendment and the rights of New York City residents, particularly those who were not well-off or politically connected.
In the late 21st century, the Daily News has remained one of New York’s most read newspapers. Its resurgence in popularity during the Donald Trump presidential campaign allowed it to take a bolder, more controversial approach to its coverage, and even to return to some of its most famous headlines from its past, such as giving Republican senator Ted Cruz the middle finger via the Statue of Liberty’s hand and rehashing its most famous headline ever in the direction of the incoming president: “TRUMP TO THE WORLD: DROP DEAD.” Ad Fontes Media rates The Daily News as a Skewed Left publication with a high degree of Bias and Reliability.