Founded in 1919, the New York Daily News was one of the first successful tabloid newspapers in the United States. It attracted readers with sensational coverage of crime and scandal, lurid photographs, and cartoons, and it quickly became the nation’s largest newspaper, reaching its peak circulation in 1947.
In the decades that followed, the newspaper gained a reputation for supporting the First Amendment and the rights of the people of New York City, especially those who were disadvantaged. It won a Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary in 1996 for E.R. Shipp’s articles on social issues and in 1998 for Mike McAlary’s coverage of police brutality against Abner Louima. In addition to its main editorial offices in Manhattan, the Daily News maintains local bureaus in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, as well as a television station, WPIX-TV, which is still located in its landmark News Building (also known as 5 Manhattan West).
The paper also owns the weekly magazine BET Weekend, which was established in 1997, as well as a number of other special editions including Caribbean Monthly and African American Weekly. It also publishes a special Yale-Harvard Game Day issue each year and several other annual supplements for African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans and Native Americans, all of which are produced in collaboration with Yale’s cultural centers and affiliated student groups.
For more than 65 years, the Daily News was based in 220 East 42nd Street near Second Avenue, an art deco skyscraper designed by John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood that is both a city and national landmark. It moved to its current home at 450 West 33rd Street (also known as 5 Manhattan West) in 1995.
The Daily News was once the most widely read newspaper in the world, but in recent decades its circulation has dropped below a million copies each day, and the paper is now a shadow of its mid-20th century peak. The newspaper has maintained a strong presence on the New York subway system, where commuters find its smaller tabloid size easier to handle and navigate than the larger format of the rival New York Post.
Despite losing readers to its more sensational rival, the Daily News has remained a leading city newspaper and, under its editor-cum-interim publisher James Willse, it has become increasingly willing to take controversial positions on social, political and economic issues. The newspaper has been owned since 1993 by Mortimer Zuckerman, the founder of the Atlantic magazine and a major media entrepreneur.
Every Daily News article contains comprehension and critical thinking questions that can be used to help students understand the story as well as develop their vocabulary and writing skills. The website also features “Background” and “Resources” (including videos, maps, links to news sites, etc.) to help students learn about the topic and draw connections between events in the article and other sources of information.