The People's Paper

When the New York Daily News launched in 1919, it didn’t just sell papers—it reinvented them. Brash, populist, and impossible to ignore, the United States’ first tabloid quickly became the country’s best-selling newspaper, reaching millions of readers and reshaping the way Americans consumed news. The swaggering epitome of big-city journalism, it mixed sensationalist stories about crime and celebrities with in-depth reporting about local and national politics. Yet by the 1970s, the paper was struggling to adapt to changes both in New York City and in how Americans got their news. On top of that, the Daily News faced bruising competition with Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post, a devastating strike, a shrinking newsroom, and repeated accusations of racism. Somehow, for decades, it weathered these setbacks—until the late 2010s, when the cuts went so deep that they reduced the publication to a shadow of its former self.

Drawing on never-before-cited documents and more than sixty interviews, The People’s Paper tells the story of the Daily News through the eyes of the owners, journalists, and readers who defined it. Matthew Pressman shows how the paper both reflected and shaped the transformations of New York City and American journalism. He argues that tabloids, despite their reputation, were crucial to an informed public, giving ordinary people reliable news in a relatable, digestible way. Lively and definitive, The People’s Paper links the history of the Daily News to today’s crises in media and politics.