The Daily News is a tabloid newspaper in New York City, renowned for its bold journalism and commitment to the city. The Daily News features breaking news, in-depth investigations, politics, sports, entertainment and culture, and community news. The paper leans left politically but has endorsed both Republican George Bush and Democrat Barack Obama for President. The Daily News is known for its door-to-door sourcing and doorstep reporting, which allows the paper to provide city-centered, hard-hitting journalism on local issues.

Founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the Illustrated Daily News and originally owned by Tribune Publishing Company, it was the first major American tabloid newspaper. The paper rose to prominence in the Roaring Twenties, penetrating a gap in the market by offering sensational crime and scandal stories, lurid photographs and cartoons. In 1947, the newspaper reached its peak circulation of 2.4 million copies daily. The Daily News became an early user of the AP wirephoto service and employed a staff of photographers. The paper also hired columnists including Ed Sullivan, who went on to host the popular TV show The Ed Sullivan Show.

In the late 1990s and 2000s, under editors-in-chief Pete Hamill and Debby Krenek, the Daily News established a reputation for strong investigative journalism and an unwavering commitment to the rights of New York City’s marginalized populations. It won a Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary in 1996 for E.R. Shipp’s pieces on welfare and race and in 1998 for Mike McAlary’s coverage of police brutality against Abner Louima.

The newspaper fought a long-running battle with the rival tabloid New York Post for market share and remained one of the nation’s most-read newspapers. In 1993, New York businessman Mortimer Zuckerman bought the Daily News and made several changes to position it as a serious tabloid, most notably investing $60 million in color presses to match the visual quality of USA Today.

In 2019, the paper lost its market lead to USA Today and in 2017 its circulation halved. In September 2017, the Daily News was sold to Tronc for one dollar. Under its new owners, the Daily News has focused on reviving its online presence and has been experimenting with paywalls to boost subscription revenue.

The Yale Daily News Historical Archive was moved from its original home at the Woodbridge Library to a new digital platform in 2021 thanks to an anonymous gift from a Yale alumnus. This gift has enabled the Archive to be migrated to a more robust and user-friendly system, expanded to include more issues from 1996 to the present, and sustain the project’s ongoing maintenance. This archive is available to anyone interested in reading these historic papers. Read the Archive’s FAQ for more information.