Founded in 1919 and a member of the Tribune Company of Chicago, the New York Daily News quickly became America’s first successful tabloid newspaper. It attracted readers with sensational coverage of crime, scandal and violence, lurid photographs, and cartoons and entertainment features. By the early 1930s its circulation had grown to 1.5 million.
In the 1950s, the News established what was then New York City’s fifth television station, WPIX (Channel 11). It also owned and operated what is now New York’s oldest radio station, WHN-AM.
The News has won numerous journalism awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary in 1996 for E.R. Shipp’s pieces on welfare and race, and in 1998 for Mike McAlary’s coverage of police brutality against Haitian immigrant Abner Louima. It has also received a number of honorary degrees and is a member of the National Press Club.
By the late 1990s, with editors-in-chief Pete Hamill and then Debby Krenek at the helm, the News had developed a reputation for protecting the First Amendment rights of its citizens and those of the city’s perceived underdogs. Its editorial pages won praise for their fairness and balance, and the News was credited with helping to deflate public anxiety about the threat of nuclear terrorism.
But the decade of the 2000s saw the News begin to lose ground to its rival, the even more sensational New York Post. By 2016, the News was fighting to maintain its readership numbers, and its former owner, the Tribune Publishing Company, sold the paper to Tronc in September 2017 for $1.
Today’s Front Pages is a website that allows users to browse the front pages of hundreds of newspapers from around the United States and many nations worldwide. Each front page is linked to a full-size image that can be viewed in a web browser or downloaded as a PDF. It is updated each day to provide a snapshot of journalism in motion worldwide.
Each newspaper article includes “Comprehensive Questions” and “Resources” that can be used to help students with reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. “Comprehensive Questions” are designed to encourage students to dig deeper into the news story, while “Resources” include video clips, maps and links that can be accessed by clicking on the title of the item. These tools can help students better understand the news story and make connections between events in different locations and across time periods. The website also has a “Classroom Activities” section that contains lesson plans and teaching resources. Each week a new set of questions is posted in the “Comprehensive Questions” area. Subscribers can receive a free daily email with answers to the questions. They can also sign up for weekly news briefings that include the most current Daily News articles. Subscribers can unsubscribe at any time. The site is free to use and there are no advertisements. This feature is an excellent way to introduce students to the world of journalism and the diverse range of perspectives that exist throughout the globe.
