Founded in 1919 as the Illustrated Daily News, and the first successful tabloid newspaper in the United States, the New York Daily News was famous for its sensational coverage of crime, scandal, and violence, and lurid photographs. The paper also carried political cartoons and entertainment features. In its heyday, the paper had a daily circulation of more than two million and a Sunday circulation of four million. It was locked in a fierce battle for readers with the rival tabloid New York Post.
In the 1980s, declining profits and union demands for more jobs led the newspaper to suffer from mounting losses, with the cost of salaries, health benefits, and pensions taking up most of the revenue. The paper was losing $1 million a month by the end of the decade. It was considered unprofitable to continue publishing, and the Tribune Company explored selling the newspaper.
Then, in 1992, businessman Mortimer Zuckerman acquired the Daily News for $36 million. He outbid Canadian newspaper owner Conrad Black and other rival bidders, and he quickly negotiated agreements with nine of the paper’s ten unions, saving about 1,500 of the workers’ jobs. The only exception was the New York Newspaper Guild, which demanded that the paper honor lifetime job guarantees for its members.
Zuckerman planned to change the Daily News to something more like a serious national tabloid, and he moved the newspaper from its traditional offices on 42nd Street and Second Avenue to a single floor of an office building at 450 West 33rd Street (now called 5 Manhattan West). The move allowed the daily editions to start printing in color.
In 1995 the Daily News introduced a national weekly insert, BET Weekend, published in association with Black Entertainment Television Inc., to appeal to African Americans. In 1996 the paper began a national distribution of its Sunday edition in cooperation with NBC Television. The daily and national editions of the Daily News ended production in color in March 1998, and all editions reverted to black-and-white printing.
The Daily News is part of the Associated Press and publishes several sister publications, including AP Wire, AP Online, and AP Images. The newspaper was a cofounder of Reuters and was one of the first to use color photography in its news photos. It is the world’s largest news service and has more than 24,000 employees. Its home page is at www.newser.com. Ad Fontes Media rates the New York Daily News as a Skews Left in terms of bias and is Generally Reliable/Analysis OR Other Issues in terms of reliability. The newspaper’s editorial and management are headquartered in New York City. A smaller bureau is located in London, England. The British edition of the Daily Mail is printed in both Manchester and London. The Daily Mail and General Trust is listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company is a member of the FTSE 100 Index. The company’s principal shareholders are Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere, and his family, the shareholders of Associated Newspapers.
