The New York Daily News is an American tabloid newspaper founded in 1919. It was the first successful tabloid in the United States, and its sensational coverage of crime and scandal, lurid photographs and cartoons contributed to its initial success. Its popularity grew during the Roaring Twenties, and it became one of the largest newspapers in the country. The paper was co-founded by Joseph Medill Patterson, who had been a publisher in the Chicago Tribune.
The Daily News thrived throughout the 20th century, and in 1947 it reached its peak circulation, with over a million readers every day. During this time the paper was an early user of the Associated Press wirephoto service and employed a large staff of photographers. In addition to covering local and national news, the Daily News specialized in investigative journalism. It covered political wrongdoing, such as the Teapot Dome Scandal, and social intrigue, such as the romance between Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII that led to his abdication.
In the 1980s, however, the New York Daily News began to suffer financially. It was losing $1 million a month by the end of the decade, and its parent company, the Tribune Company, offered it up for sale. Mort Zuckerman, owner of the Atlantic Coast Line, bid against Chicago media mogul Conrad Black, founder of Hollinger Inc., which owned the Chicago Sun-Times and Britain’s Daily Telegraph. After a bidding war, the Daily News was sold to Zuckerman for $36 million, less than half of what Black had offered.
Despite its decline in revenue, the Daily News continued to be a popular source of information for the public. It diversified by publishing the quarterly BET Weekend for African Americans and in 1996 launched an online version of the newspaper. It also introduced a weekly sports page and expanded its political coverage. The newspaper also moved out of its iconic home in the News Building, settling into a single-story office at Manhattan West.
By the early 21st century, no printed newspaper survived the rise of internet and television news sources unscathed, and the Daily News was no exception. By 2016, its circulation had dropped to less than half a million, and in 2017 it was reported that the newspaper had halved again. In an attempt to re-establish itself as one of the city’s leading sources of information, the Daily News reverted to its roots in style and tone during the Trump administration, giving the Republican senator Ted Cruz the middle finger via the Statue of Liberty’s hand, and rehashing its most famous headline in the direction of the incoming President: TRUMP TO WORLD: DROP DEAD!. This renewed interest was short-lived, and in 2018 the newspaper announced it would close its doors for good. The Daily News’s final edition was published on January 27, 2018. Its archives are preserved by the New York Public Library. The Daily News article contains comprehension and critical thinking questions, as well as “Background” and “Resources” (including video clips, maps and links) to help students understand the content.