The New York Daily News is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in Manhattan. It is the ninth-most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States, with a circulation of over 200,000 copies. The paper was founded in 1919 and is currently owned by tronc, the former Tribune Publishing Company. It is headquartered at 4 New York Plaza in Lower Manhattan. The newspaper has a history of prominently displaying an aggressively pro-American and anti-communist editorial agenda. Its political stance has also been described as left-wing.
The Daily News is well-known for its sensational coverage of politics and celebrity gossip, but it has also been credited with advancing the cause of women’s rights, animal welfare, and civil rights. It is regarded as one of the most influential newspapers of the 20th century. The newspaper has a long-standing rivalry with its more sensational competitor, the New York Post.
Despite the Daily News’s many attempts to reinvent itself, it struggled to maintain its market share in the face of competition from television and internet news sites. In addition, it suffered from declining advertising revenue and a waning readership. The emergence of and massive public interest in the Donald Trump presidential campaign offered the newspaper an opportunity to reclaim some lost ground. It harked back to its roots, using more provocative language and a more flamboyant style and tone, and gave Trump the middle finger via the Statue of Liberty’s hand in an iconic headline.
However, the resurgence did not last. In 2017, the Daily News’s circulation halved, and the following year the newspaper was sold for the monumental sum of one dollar to its former owners, tronc. Tronc subsequently embarked on a firing spree, culling half the paper’s editorial staff.
While the Daily News had a strong presence in local news, it was never able to catch up to its rivals in national and international news. In addition, the Daily News’s stance on controversial issues often put it at odds with city officials and other groups.
In an attempt to boost revenue, the Daily News moved from a primarily newsprint to a full color format. This helped it to compete with USA Today, the country’s largest daily newspaper. Nevertheless, the News continued to lose money, and in 1990 it was nearly driven into bankruptcy by a five-month union strike. In the end, the Tribune Company was forced to hire non-union replacement workers and absorb a $115 million loss. The Daily News relaunched in 1993 under the leadership of businessman Mortimer Zuckerman. Zuckerman invested $60 million towards the purchase of color presses and repositioned the paper as a serious tabloid. He rebranded the paper “The Eyes, the Ears, the Honest Voice of New York.”