The Yale Daily News is the nation’s oldest college newspaper and has been financially and editorially independent since its founding on January 28, 1878. It serves the Yale community, as well as the surrounding city of New Haven, with a Monday through Friday publication throughout the academic year. The Daily News also publishes special issues, including the Yale-Harvard Game Day Issue, Commencement Issue and First Year Issue, as well as annual special sections celebrating Indigenous, Black, Latino and Asian American communities in collaboration with Yale’s cultural centers and affiliated student groups.
For more information about the history of the Daily News and its impact on journalism in America, visit our Historical Archive.
On the other hand, a local newspaper can provide an indispensable service by exposing corruption and mismanagement within government agencies, identifying undercover drug operations, and uncovering local scandals that might not otherwise be reported. The local newspaper can also be a critical forum for discussing public policy, educating citizens about government functions and encouraging political participation.
While the obituary for local news might seem grim, there are signs that some residents of McKeesport and other towns are redefining what it means to have a functioning democracy, by taking up the reins of citizen journalism. This fascinating and insightful book provides a much-needed anatomy of what happens in a town when its daily newspaper goes under, and how it might be saved.
From its inception in 1919 as the Illustrated Daily News, through its transformation into the first successful tabloid and its heyday of the 1930s, the Daily News was one of the most read newspapers in the country. Its headlines grabbed readers with sensational stories of crime and scandal, lurid photographs, classified ads, cartoons, and sports coverage.
By the late twentieth century, however, the Daily News was in decline. The paper faced competition from the Post, its slick rival, and the growth of television and other media outlets. Readership continued to decline, as did advertising revenue. The News shifted its editorial stance from conservative populism to a more centrist position. Its flagship office was at 220 East 42nd Street, a city landmark designed by architects John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood.
The Daily News was sold to Tronc in 2015, and its website continues to be published. The company has announced it will shut down the New York edition, but the Pittsburgh office of the paper remains open. In the meantime, the staff of the Daily News has started a podcast to cover local news. The podcast is available on iTunes and Google Play, as well as on the Daily News website. The website features a weekly “Daily News Archive” that includes downloadable articles from the Daily News’s digital archive and links to other news and media sources. Each article contains comprehension and critical thinking questions, as well as background information, video clips and maps. The Daily News is a great resource for students studying US History, civics and government.
