Founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City, the Daily News is an American newspaper. It is a tabloid format with large photographs, intense city news coverage, celebrity gossip, classified ads, comics, and sports coverage. It was the first major American paper to go color on the front page, and it remains one of the most famous in the world. It has also had a strong reputation for its investigative journalism and editorials on social issues, especially its commitment to the First Amendment. In addition, it is known for its sexy headlines and its tabloid culture.
The Daily News is a daily newspaper with a circulation of about 200,000. The paper has won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary in 1996 for E.R. Shipp’s pieces on the city’s welfare and race problems. Its flamboyant style and provocative headlines have earned it the nicknames “New York’s Picture Newspaper” and “The World’s Funniest Newspaper.” The newspaper has been owned by the New York Times Company since its inception, with long-time publisher Morton L. Fox serving as its president and editor until his death in 2001.
By the early 21st century, the Daily News was in a steep decline, losing many of its once-larger readership numbers to its even more sensational rival, the New York Post. It was still a major metropolitan newspaper, however, and it continued to provide strong local and sporting coverage.
In the late 1990s, under the direction of its editor-in-chief (first Pete Hamill and then Debby Krenek), the paper began a resurgence and reclaimed some of its lost glory. It became the first major newspaper to develop an electronic publishing system and won a Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Photography in 1996 for a series on the city’s homeless population by photographer David Guttenfelder. It won another Pulitzer Prize in 1998 for the piece on police brutality against Abner Louima by journalist Mike McAlary. It also established what became WPIX-TV in 1948 and is located in the landmark 42nd Street News Building designed by John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood.
Each article in the Daily News includes comprehension and critical thinking questions. Students can access these questions by clicking on the questions link found at the top of each story. They can also use the “Background” and “Resources” links below each question to gain additional information. Each question is accompanied by a video clip and other multimedia resources to aid student understanding. The Yale Daily News is published every weekday during the semester when classes are in session and is the oldest college daily newspaper in the United States. Many of its writers and editors have gone on to prominent careers in journalism and public life. It is the official newspaper of Yale University. It is available to readers on campus and off.