Founded in 1919, the New York Daily News is the first newspaper to be printed in tabloid format. Once the largest paper in the United States, it had a peak circulation of almost 2 million in 1947. The paper became known for its sensational reporting of crime, corruption, and violence, as well as lurid photographs and cartoons. In the 1920s, it also focused on political wrongdoing such as the Teapot Dome scandal and social intrigue like Wallis Simpson’s romance with King Edward VIII that led to his abdication. It also emphasized photography; the News was an early user of the AP wirephoto service, and had a large staff of photographers.
In addition to a major news section, the Daily News features entertainment and celebrity gossip, classified ads, comics, and sports coverage. The newspaper’s famous tagline is “New York’s Picture Newspaper.” The News once maintained local offices in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens; it now maintains a headquarters in Manhattan at One Police Plaza. The News has long been engaged in a circulation battle with its rival the New York Post, and has been accused of having a liberal bias.
During the Great Depression, the newspaper lost many of its readers to competing papers that offered free papers, such as the rival New Yorker. By the end of the 1930s, the newspaper had a circulation of less than half what it had reached in its heyday. Nevertheless, the Daily News continued to publish and was the leading tabloid in the nation.
The Daily News is currently owned by Tronc, which acquired the newspaper in 2017 from its founder Mortimer Zuckerman. The Daily News is the primary source of news for many people living in New York City, including city employees and municipal government officials. The paper is a competitor of other newspapers, including the New York Times and Washington Post, and is among the most popular news sources in the United States.
The Yale Daily News Historical Archive provides access to digitized copies of printed issues of the newspaper. The archive is open to the public and includes over 140 years of YDN reporting. The archive is made possible through an anonymous gift to Yale. The archive is housed on a platform hosted by the Yale Library. For information on permissions and reuse, please visit the YDN Rights and Permissions page.