Founded in 1919, the Daily News is the first successful tabloid newspaper in the United States. It lured readers with sensational coverage of crime and scandal, lurid photographs and cartoons. The News was one of the most widely circulated newspapers in the world at its peak. Originally known as the Illustrated Daily News, its name was changed to the New York Daily News in 1929. Its headquarters at 450 West 33rd Street, which straddled the railroad tracks leading to Pennsylvania Station, became known as the News Building.
In the 1920s and 1930s the Daily News focused on political wrongdoing, particularly the Teapot Dome Scandal, and social intrigue such as Wallis Simpson’s romance with King Edward VIII that led to his abdication. It also paid close attention to photography, being an early user of the Associated Press wirephoto service and employing a large staff of photographers.
At its zenith, the Daily News drew more than a million daily readers, easily outstripping its major rivals, The New York Post and the New York Times. Its reputation for tough journalism was reinforced during the Second World War, when it screamed headlines like “Ford to City: Drop Dead” and reported on wartime violence and starvation. Its circulation waned in the 1960s, and by 1970 it was less than a third of its 1940s heyday.
By 1978, a multi-union strike had crippled the newspaper, and its once-indestructible exterior began to show cracks. The Daily News remained one of the largest newspapers in the country, but it was no longer able to dominate its competition with one screamer headline.
Attempts to reposition the newspaper as a serious tabloid were met with mixed results. The News continued to report on local news and sports, but it was no longer a dominating force in those categories. The newspaper suffered even more in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when its advertising revenue plummeted and the company went into bankruptcy.
The News was purchased by billionaire media mogul Mort Zuckerman in 1993, and he set out to revitalize the publication. He put $60 million toward color presses, allowing the News to compete with its more upscale competitors, and hired an experienced editor-in-chief, Jim Rich. He also instituted a hiring and firing spree, eliminating many of the newspaper’s top managers and reducing the Daily News editorial staff to 45 people, barely half of what it had been in its heyday. The Daily News’s circulation dipped further, and the paper was sold to Tronc (now Tribune Publishing Company) for a dollar in 2017. The newspaper is still in operation today, though its newsroom closed in 2020. Ad Fontes Media rates the Daily News as Skews Left in terms of bias and as Reliable in terms of analysis/fact reporting. The Daily News also receives a high score for quality of writing.