Founded in 1919, the New York Daily News is a tabloid newspaper headquartered in the iconic art deco Daily News Building at 450 West 33rd Street in Manhattan. The newspaper was the first of its kind printed in tabloid format and at its peak had a circulation of 2.4 million copies per day. Today, it is the most-read local newspaper in the United States and is a leading source for political and crime coverage of New York City.
In the 1920s, like many other popular dailies at the time, the Daily News emphasized sensational pictorial coverage and a willingness to go further than its competitors in pursuit of attention-grabbing front pages. In one notorious case, a reporter strapped a camera to his leg and snapped a photo of Ruth Snyder mid-electrocution; the following day, the newspaper ran the picture with the headline “DEAD!”
The Daily News was also a pioneer in broadcast journalism. It established WPIX (Channel 11 in New York), whose call letters were derived from the News’s nickname, and purchased what would become WFAN radio, then an FM simulcast of its AM namesake. It also developed a strong presence in photography, using a network of photographers and creating a magazine called “Viewpoints” that highlighted the work of young artists.
By the 1990s, under several editors-in-chief (first Pete Hamill, then Debby Krenek), the Daily News had repositioned itself as a serious news organization. Its editorial staff earned a reputation for championing the First Amendment and the rights of New York’s residents, especially those considered disenfranchised; it won Pulitzer Prizes in 1996 for E.R. Shipp’s articles on race and welfare issues and in 1998 for Mike McAlary’s reporting of police brutality against Haitian immigrant Abner Louima.
By early 21st century, the Daily News was still a major player in the New York media scene, though its circulation had long since declined from its 1940s heyday. The paper was owned at the time by mortician-turned-media mogul Robert Maxwell, who had once been part of the British tabloid empire that gave birth to the Daily Mirror.
The Daily News regained some ground in 2016 when it took advantage of the massive public interest in the presidential campaign to reclaim its reputation as a sharp, snarky voice in New York City politics. The newspaper harked back to its roots, employing a more provocative tone and style—giving Republican Senator Ted Cruz the middle finger through the Statue of Liberty’s hand and rehashing its most famous headline in the direction of the incoming President: “TRUMP TO THE WORLD: DROP DEAD.” However, it wasn’t enough to reverse the decline, and in 2017 the News’s parent company, Tronc, re-purchased the newspaper for a symbolic $1.
