The Daily News is the most widely distributed newspaper in the United States. It was founded in 1919 and is based in New York City. Its staff includes award-winning writers, columnists and opinion formers. Its editors and reporters deliver national and local news, politics and the latest sports from the Big Apple. It also offers a variety of lifestyle and entertainment coverage. The newspaper has an online edition that is available worldwide.
In the 1930s, the newspaper’s brassy, pictorial style set it apart from its competitors and it was an early adopter of the Associated Press wire photo service. During World War II, its distribution reached an all time high of over 2.4 million daily and 4.7 million Sundays. It was credited with helping to shape the public’s perception of the war and was the most popular daily in the country.
It remained popular through the 1970s and into the 1980s, but the Daily News was losing ground to its more sensational rival tabloid competitor, the New York Post. In 1975, the News rolled out what became its most famous headline: “Ford to City: Drop Dead.” It was an editorial response to the President’s veto of a bankruptcy bailout for New York City.
By the 1990s, the paper began to recover, and it won a Pulitzer Prize in 1996 for E.R. Shipp’s pieces on welfare and race issues, and another in 1998 for Mike McAlary’s report on police brutality against Haitian immigrant Abner Louima. The News also started a quarterly and later monthly insert called BET Weekend, which had enormous success in the African American community.
The Daily News continued to thrive through the 1990s, but it was losing money. The Tribune Company, which owned the News, wanted to cut costs, so they fired half of its editorial staff in 1995 and launched a five month strike against the ten unions at the paper. The resulting losses cost the News over a million dollars.
In 1999, the News introduced an electronic publishing system that it claimed was revolutionary. The system enabled the newspaper to publish its articles and graphics in a much faster and more efficient manner, while still maintaining the integrity of its traditional print format. This was the first such system used by a metropolitan newspaper.
The News is currently owned by Mortimer Zuckerman, who has been editor in chief since 2005. The paper has seen a resurgence in its popularity during the Donald Trump presidential campaign. It has also reverted back to some of its more outrageous headlines, including giving Sen. 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.” The paper has also begun to focus on investigative reporting and social justice issues. The Daily News is a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. Its staff also teaches journalism to young people through its School of the Sacred Heart program.