As New York’s daily newspaper, the Daily News covers all of city and state politics and national and international affairs. Its news stories and editorials offer a broad spectrum of viewpoints on political issues, with a focus on investigative journalism and the spotlight on New York’s most under-reported stories. The News also carries extensive coverage of the arts and sports, and is known for its award-winning photography.
The Daily News was established in 1919 and became the first United States newspaper printed in tabloid format. The paper quickly established itself as the largest in the country, reaching a circulation peak of more than one million copies a day by 1930. It found abundant subject matter in the decade’s 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 the abdication of the latter. The paper emphasized sensational pictorial coverage, including the use of hidden cameras. It also developed a staff of talented photographers and was an early adopter of the Associated Press wirephoto service in the 1930s.
By the 1980s, the Daily News was struggling financially due to union concessions that eroded the paper’s earning potential. Its parent company, Tribune Company, attempted to sell the paper, but this proved unsuccessful. Closing the newspaper was considered, but this would have been costly in terms of severance pay and pensions. In 1982, a ten-month strike by the newspaper’s union employees drained its cash reserves. During this time, the News relied on non-union replacement staff to publish its daily editions.
In 1993, the newspaper was saved by its new owner, Moritz “Zucker” Zuckerman, who made several big changes to the Daily News. He invested $60 million in color presses, allowing the News to compete visually with USA Today, the largest newspaper in the country at the time. The News also introduced a quarterly insert for African American readers, BET Weekend, and later a monthly Caribbean edition.
During this period, the Daily News was a staunch ally of urban residents and a leading advocate for their rights. This was reflected in the paper’s editorial positions, and its dedication to a “flexibly centrist” stance that was both pro-business and anti-racism. The newspaper won the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary in 1996 for the work of E.R. Shipp on welfare, race and other social issues, and in 1998 for Mike McAlary’s coverage of police brutality against Haitian immigrant Abner Louima. This was the first of three consecutive Pulitzer Prizes won by the News for outstanding commentary. In addition, the Daily News earned recognition for its investigative reporting and was a frequent critic of the policies of the Clinton administration, which led to the News receiving the prestigious Pulitzer for Public Service in 2000. The Daily News has continued to thrive under its current editor-in-chief, Marc Lacey. Its circulation has topped seven million on several occasions, and it has won numerous other awards for its content.