Daily news is a morning tabloid newspaper, founded in 1919 in New York City. It was the first successful tabloid in America, attracting readers with sensational coverage of crime and scandal, lurid photographs and cartoons, and entertainment features. In the decades following World War II the newspaper reached its peak, boasting a daily circulation of more than one million and a Sunday circulation of over four million, well ahead of competitors Newsday and the New York Post.
In 1992 Mortimer Zuckerman outbid Canadian Conrad Black, owner of newspaper holding company Hollinger, Inc., for the Daily News, buying it for $75 million. During his tenure Zuckerman negotiated contracts with nine of the paper’s ten unions, but failed to reach an agreement with the New York Newspaper Guild, which represents employees in newsroom and circulation. In 1995 the newspaper moved from its headquarters at 33rd Street and Second Avenue to a single floor of an office building in the Financial District.
During the 1990s the Daily News developed a reputation for aggressively protecting its First Amendment rights, winning victories in court cases against government agencies that refused to open their records to the public. The paper’s editorial writers, including David E. Rosenbaum and Michael Krenek, earned praise for promoting liberal politics and for their emphasis on investigative journalism.
Today the Daily News is owned by Tronc, a Chicago-based media company. The newspaper is in financial trouble, and has been losing readers to digital outlets like Gothamist and the New York Post. In addition to a reduction in staff, the Daily News has been hit with a series of cost-cutting measures by its hedge fund owners.
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