Founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the Illustrated Daily News, the morning tabloid became the first successful American newspaper printed in tabloid format. The Daily News reached its peak circulation in 1947 at 2.4 million copies a day and is now the eleventh-highest-circulation daily newspaper in the United States. The paper grew popular by attracting readers with sensational coverage of crime and scandal, lurid photographs, celebrity gossip, classified ads, and comics.
The paper remained in the hands of the same family until 2017, when it was sold to Tronc, a Chicago-based media company. The Daily News remains committed to intense city news coverage and a strong emphasis on photography. It is also well known for its sports coverage and editorial opinion. In the late 1970s, the News was known as a more liberal alternative to its rival, the conservative Post.
The News has had its headquarters in a historic art deco building on 42nd Street designed by John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood, which is still an official city landmark. It was the model for the Daily Planet building of the first two Superman films and now houses a branch of the Associated Press and part of Manhattan West.