Daily News is an American morning tabloid newspaper founded in 1919. Initially a division of the Tribune Company in Chicago, it became the first successful tabloid in the United States, attracting readers with sensational coverage of crime and scandal and lurid photographs, along with cartoons and other entertainment features. It also provided extensive sports coverage and was a leader in advertising.
At the height of its popularity in the early 1920s, the Daily News had a circulation that rivaled that of the New York Times. Joseph Medill Patterson, the newspaper’s publisher and founder, commissioned Raymond Hood and John Mead Howells to design a 36-story freestanding Art Deco building that was dubbed the News Building. Its iconic appearance, which inspired the Daily Planet of the Superman movies, made it a New York landmark and is now an icon in its own right.
The paper found ample subject matter to keep readers in a frenzy during this period of economic prosperity, with stories that focused on political wrongdoing such as the Teapot Dome Scandal and social intrigue such as the romance between Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII that led to the latter’s abdication. It also devoted much attention to photography; it was an early user of the Associated Press wirephoto service and maintained a staff of photographers.
By the mid-1930s, the Daily News was on top in the United States, outselling even its more sensational rival, the New York Post. It was able to maintain its dominance in the market by appealing to reader interest in political scandal and in celebrity gossip, as well as by offering thorough news and sports coverage. It was also a pioneer in the use of color for its print editions, which increased the visual impact of its pages.
In the 1980s, however, the newspaper began to experience financial difficulties. By 1982, it was losing $1 million a month. In addition, union demands on salary and work hours had increased employee costs, which eroded the newspaper’s profits. Despite these challenges, the Daily News continued to publish and its readership remained strong.
In 1991, controversial British media mogul Robert Maxwell purchased the Daily News from the Tribune Company for a reported one dollar. The following year, he embarked on a campaign to revive the newspaper’s fortunes. He hired the conservative editor William Safire to write editorials and a young, aggressive staff of writers. He also invested in high-quality color presses and revamped the style of the paper, which included giving Senator Ted Cruz the middle finger using the Statue of Liberty’s hand and rehashing its most famous headline: “TRUMP TO THE WORLD: DROP DEAD”. The changes paid off and in 1993, the Daily News was once again operating at a profit. However, its circulation remained far below its peak in the 1940s.