Founded in 1919, the Daily News was America’s first successful tabloid newspaper. The paper grabbed readers with sensational news of crime and scandal, lurid photographs, and celebrity gossip. At its height, the paper had a circulation of 2 million and was one of the largest-selling newspapers in the United States.
The Daily News has a reputation for liberal political leanings, but it is still a legitimate news source. Like all tabloids it tends to go for bold headlines rather than calm facts, and it takes on crusades (often aimed at crosstown rival the New York Post) that may not help it maintain its reputation for objectivity.
Its website is a little clunky and hard to navigate. The online version has a lot of pop up ads and requires you to scroll through several screens to get to the story you want to read. Compared to the Times, this paper is very much more of a tabloid in terms of content.
In addition to its main edition, the Daily News also publishes a weekly Sunday supplement called The New Sunday News. The News also produces a special issue on Yale-Harvard Game Day and another in conjunction with the commencement ceremonies each year, as well as numerous other annual special issues celebrating diverse Yale communities. The News is the oldest college daily newspaper in the country and many of its editors, writers, and contributors have gone on to prominent careers in journalism and public life.
In recent years, the paper has suffered a number of layoffs and cost-cutting initiatives under its new owner, hedge fund Alden Capital. The News has also struggled to compete with the more sophisticated online offerings of the New York Times and the Washington Post. Its print and digital subscriptions have been declining, and its revenue has declined as a result.
The paper’s current editorial leadership includes publisher Marty Baron, executive editor John Sifton, and deputy editorial page editor Jason Reuter. The News has won multiple Pulitzer Prizes for its journalism, and in particular for its coverage of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
It has been cited for its investigative work and is known for uncovering corruption, especially in New York City politics. The newspaper has also been praised for its coverage of breaking stories, such as the case of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, and its use of social media to quickly share news.
The News is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Press Club, and it is a founding member of the New York City chapter of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. The paper has won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting three times and has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing twice. It has also received the Society of Professional Journalists’ Ethics in Journalism Award and several other honors. The newspaper is based in the iconic Daily News Building at 450 West 33rd Street, which was designed by architect John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood and was used as the model for the “Daily Planet” building in the first two Superman movies.