Founded in 1919, the Daily News is an American newspaper that serves New York City. It is a tabloid and has the highest circulation of any metropolitan newspaper in the United States. Throughout the decades, it developed a reputation for covering controversial issues and defending the rights of those who may not have been as well-off. It has won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary in 1996 for E.R. Shipp’s pieces on race, welfare and social issues and in 1998 for Mike McAlary’s coverage of police brutality against Haitian immigrant Abner Louima. The newspaper’s website also covers breaking news, including local events and politics.
Most weekly newspapers follow a similar format as daily papers but focus on news within a specific coverage area. Many also have a feature section, usually with lifestyle features, such as reviews of local theater and arts. Other sections of a weekly paper include public-records, such as summaries of police-incident reports or fire department calls, court dispositions (or outcomes of criminal proceedings) and lists of building permits issued by the government. Larger weeklies, especially those that are part of a chain, may also have a food section that concentrates on regional recipes.
Like daily newspapers, most weekly papers employ a staff of reporters and photographers. Some have a staff of several reporters, each assigned to cover a particular beat (such as schools, local government, business or police). Other publications, such as weeklies that are national in scope or those that come out on Sunday, have only one reporter for the entire publication.
In the early 1980s, as the Daily News struggled to compete with its sensational rival, the New York Post, the newspaper adopted a bold new look and slogan: “New York’s leading news and picture newspaper.” In 1948, the Daily News established what would become New York City’s first television station, WPIX, using call letters that were based on its nickname. The News also owned what became WFAN radio.
By the late 1990s, the Daily News was losing money and its reputation as the nation’s largest newspaper had waned significantly, but under the guidance of a series of editors-in-chief (first Pete Hamill, then Debby Krenek), the Daily News began to reclaim its former glory. Its coverage of a variety of controversial issues, such as the beating of a mentally disabled woman and the murder of a cop’s girlfriend, earned it widespread praise.
In 1993, a struggling New York Times publisher named Mort Zuckerman bought the Daily News, but the purchase was made after he successfully negotiated contracts with the paper’s ten unions. He invested $60 million towards color presses, enabling the News to compete visually with USA Today, and by 1994, the Daily News had recovered its earning potential. It has since remained profitable.