The Daily News

Daily News

The Daily News is a tabloid newspaper in New York City, once the largest newspaper in the world. It covers national and international news, as well as local news, sports, entertainment, and classified ads. Its editorials and insights are often controversial, and the paper also features reader contests and cartoon strips. The News is available both in print and online.

Founded in 1919, the New York Daily News was one of America’s first tabloid newspapers. Its small size and tabloid layout made it easier to carry on the subway, where it found many of its readers. The News aimed to capture the attention of commuters with titillating and scandalous headlines.

It soon became the city’s dominant newspaper, beating out its rivals the New York Post and The Times. By the 1970s, the Daily News had a circulation of nearly a million. However, a series of misfortunes in the 1980s, including a multi-month strike by its workers, saw the News’ readership drop significantly.

In 1990, the Daily News was purchased by the Tribune Company. As part of a plan to reduce costs, the owners wanted to cut the staff’s wages and benefits. The ten local unions that represented the paper’s employees responded by striking for almost three months. The Daily News continued to publish during the strike, but lost about a million dollars in revenue.

By 2016, the News had lost a lot of its former readership and was struggling to remain relevant in a changing media landscape. The emergence of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign provided the News with an opportunity to re-establish itself amongst the city’s most popular news outlets. Its flamboyant style and tone, such as giving Republican senator Ted Cruz the middle finger via the Statue of Liberty’s hand, and rehashing its most famous headline in the direction of the incoming President, “TRUMP TO WORLD: DROP DEAD,” helped to reinvigorate its reputation.

News articles follow the Inverted Pyramid format, where the most important information—the who, what, when, where, why and how—are placed at the top of the article, followed by additional details and then less important but still relevant information. This structure allows readers to quickly grasp the most important aspects of a story.

The News is a free, daily briefing on culture, science, sports, politics, business and more. Its editors are known for their commitment to protecting the First Amendment and the rights of New Yorkers, particularly those who have been denied a voice in other media sources. It has won a number of Pulitzer Prizes, including one for E.R. Shipp’s columns on welfare and social issues, and one for Mike McAlary’s coverage of police brutality against Haitian immigrant Abner Louima.

This front page is part of our continuing effort to archive daily newspaper front pages from around the country and the world. Click any image to view a larger version in your browser or download a high-resolution PDF. The Yale Daily News Historical Archive is funded by the generosity of alumnus, anonymous donors.