Founded in 1919 as the Illustrated Daily News, the New York City-based newspaper was the first daily printed in tabloid format and reached its peak circulation of 2.4 million copies a day in 1947. The paper is currently owned by tronc, the publishing arm of Tribune Company, and publishes from a newsroom in downtown Manhattan. The newspaper has been known for sensational headlines and hard-hitting journalism, and its editorial stance tends to lean left. In terms of reliability, Ad Fontes Media rates the New York Daily News Skews Left in bias and High for factual reporting.
The newspaper also publishes a weekly magazine called WKND and several special issues during the academic year, including the Yale-Harvard Game Day Issue and the Commencement Issue. The News collaborates with Yale’s cultural centers and affiliated student groups to produce these specialty editions.
In the past, the New York Daily News has been praised for its commitment to diversity and inclusion. The paper’s coverage of the 1969 police beating of Abner Louima led to a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, and the newspaper was awarded a third consecutive Pulitzer Prize in 1998 for a series on police corruption in New York City. The News has also won a number of awards for its photographic work, including the Pulitzer Prize in Photography in 1987 for its photograph of the body of New York City police officer Mark Dunoway, who had been shot and killed in the line of duty.
On a less positive note, the newspaper has been criticized for its cost-cutting. In 2018, the News slashed the salaries of 12 full-time journalists and cut the hours of many others in a move to save money. The newsroom has also been affected by the departure of summer journalism interns, who were told that their positions would not be renewed when their internships ended. The cuts are part of a larger effort by the newspaper to reduce costs as it attempts to stay financially viable and compete with digital-first publications.
In a memo sent to staff Tuesday morning, Daily News editor Andrew Julien and general manager Michael Gates urged employees to “refuse the false narrative of declining American journalism,” praising support from ownership. The memo also referred to the recent hiring of two senior managers who have been hired to guide the newspaper’s new focus on local stories. However, the memo did not provide details on the size of the new editorial staff or whether there will be a return to traditional print advertising. It is unclear if the plan will save enough money to hire a significant number of the newspaper’s more than 60-person editorial staff.