The Daily News is the New York metropolitan area’s oldest and largest newspaper, founded in 1919 as the Illustrated Daily News by Joseph Medill Patterson. The paper became the first successful tabloid in the United States and reached its peak circulation in 1947 at 2 million copies a day. It remained in print until 2006, when it merged with its rival the New York Post to form the New York Times Media Group. The combined company, now owned by tronc, is the ninth-most widely circulated newspaper in the country.
Today, the Daily News is a major news source with intense city and local coverage and an extensive range of opinions and commentary, including opinion formers, op-ed writers, and columnists. The newspaper also has celebrity gossip, classified ads, comics, sports, and a huge photo gallery. The Daily News is known for its high-quality journalism and its bold presentation of difficult subjects, such as drug addiction, crime, and politics, as well as the city’s famous sports teams.
The newspaper has a strong commitment to social justice, and its editorial stance is often progressive or liberal. In recent years, it has shifted toward a more centrist position. The News’s ideological lean has varied over time, but for decades it supported isolationism and conservative populism, a political philosophy reflected in its motto, “All the news that’s fit to print.”
Located at 450 West 33rd Street in Manhattan, the former Daily News building is an official New York City landmark designed by John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood. The building was the model for the Daily Planet in the first two Superman movies and still features a giant globe and weather instruments in its lobby. The News moved to its current headquarters in 1995, but the 42nd Street building remains a city and national landmark.
In the early 21st century, the Daily News lost its lead to its even more sensational competitor, the New York Post, and began to lose readership. By 2016, it was no longer able to attract readers with a single scream such as its 1975 “Ford to City: Drop Dead.” But the Daily News continued to provide strong city news coverage and robust sports and celebrity coverage.
In Death of the Daily News, Andrew Conte presents a thoughtful and piercing anatomy of what happens in a community when its newspaper dies. A journalist of long experience, Conte writes about this troubling phenomenon in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, a town that is now a ”news desert.” This is a must-read for any citizen concerned about the future of local journalism. It also provides valuable insights into how newspapers can be saved.