Founded in 1919, the daily news was America’s first tabloid newspaper and at its peak had a circulation of more than two million. Originally owned by the Tribune Company, it is now part of tronc, a media conglomerate that includes other newspapers such as The Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. The daily has won many Pulitzer Prizes for its photography and has a reputation for sensational, eye-catching headlines. It was known to have a conservative bias at one time, but has moved to the left in recent years. It is often compared with its New York City rival, the New York Post, which has long been considered a liberal newspaper.
The paper remained popular and profitable during its first decades of operation, although it faced financial difficulties in the 1960s. In 1990 the paper’s ten unions, under the umbrella organization Allied Printing Trades Council, went on strike in an attempt to stop management plans to install Goss Newsliner presses. The newspaper managed to stay in publication during the strike by using non-union replacement workers and by printing only those sections that were essential to its business. Robert Maxwell, the newspaper’s publisher at the time, drowned soon after and the paper filed for bankruptcy in 1991.
Under the leadership of Mortimer Zuckerman, the paper improved its reputation for protecting First Amendment rights and became a serious contender in New York City journalism. He appointed Debby Krenek as editor-in-chief and established local sections such as parenting, borough politics, and immigration news. The newspaper also built up its sports coverage and moved into the News Building, a skyscraper on 42nd Street near Second Avenue in New York City, which was used as the model for the fictional Daily Planet building in Superman movies.
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