Founded in 1919, Daily News is America’s first tabloid newspaper. Currently owned by Tronc, it is headquartered in New York City. The paper is known for sensational pictorial coverage, particularly in its criminal justice reporting. Its front page in 1928 is considered one of its finest achievements, when a reporter strapped a camera to his leg and captured the image of Ruth Snyder being electrocuted in the electric chair, with the headline “DEAD!”
Daily News is also known for its bold coverage of celebrity scandals and other controversial topics. Despite its reputation for liberal politics, the paper is not without its critics. The paper’s coverage of the Newtown massacre, for example, was widely criticized as insensitive and biased. Some also argue that the Daily News is too reliant on celebrity scandals and does not focus enough on local issues.
In 1978, the Daily News was on the verge of collapse when a multi-union strike crippled production and sent readership to an all-time low. To regain its footing, the newspaper began hiring non-union replacement staff, a practice that would become standard for most newspapers in the future.
After the newspaper rebounded from its crisis, a series of big changes was made by editor-cum-interim James Willse and publisher Mort Zuckerman in an attempt to revitalize the News. A $60 million investment was made in color presses, allowing the newspaper to compete with the visual quality of USA Today, and the News was repositioned as a “serious tabloid”.
However, this repositioning was short-lived. In 1990, the Allied Printing Trades Council, the umbrella organization for the ten unions that comprised the newsroom’s workforce, went on strike, a five-month endeavor that cost the newspaper $70 million. The Daily News survived by using a combination of reprints and non-union replacement workers, but the damage had been done; the newspaper’s circulation was down by almost half.
The Daily News has also been known for its bold and sometimes sensational coverage of crime and terrorism. In addition, the newspaper has been a pioneer in a number of technological innovations, including online publishing, color printing and videography. It has also been responsible for a wide variety of successful supplementary publications, including the weekly black-themed insert BET Weekend, which later expanded to a monthly edition.
The Daily News has been a leader in breaking major international stories, such as the arrest of Mao Tse-tung and the discovery of the remains of the Titanic. The newspaper’s AllSides Media Bias Rating is Left, which means that it is biased in favor of liberal and progressive thinking and policy agendas. As a result, its content is often critical of conservative thought and actions. Generally speaking, however, opinions of the newspaper can vary widely depending on the individual reader’s political leanings and what they value in their news source. The Daily News is considered a premier New York City newspaper, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best newspaper for everyone. Like all media, it’s a matter of personal taste and preferences.