Philadelphia Daily News

The Philadelphia Daily News is a tabloid newspaper that began publishing on March 31, 1925, under founding editor Lee Ellmaker. In its early years, it was dominated by crime stories, sports and sensationalism. By 1930, daily circulation of the morning paper exceeded 200,000.

Related Topics:
Tabloid newspaper - March 31 - 1925 - Lee Ellmaker - 1930

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Circulation dropped over the years, and by 1954, the money-losing paper was sold to Matthew McCloskey, a contractor and treasurer of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. In December of 1956, the paper's financial condition was so bad that McCloskey got permission from the unions for a 90 percent cut in the workforce.

Related Topics:
1954 - Matthew McCloskey - 1956

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In 1957, McCloskey sold the paper to Walter Annenberg, publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Annenberg killed off the Daily News' Sunday edition and made the tabloid into an afternoon paper.

Related Topics:
1957 - Walter Annenberg - The Philadelphia Inquirer

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In 1970, Annenberg sold both papers to Knight Newspapers Inc., which eventually became today's Knight Ridder following a merger.

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Under the new ownership, the Daily News returned to morning publication and aimed to be taken more seriously. The paper's journalists have won the Pulitzer Prize twice since then. Richard Aregood won in 1985 for editorial writing and Signe Wilkinson won for her editorial cartoons in 1992.

Related Topics:
Pulitzer Prize - Richard Aregood - 1985 - Signe Wilkinson - 1992

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The paper continues to struggle financially (It was surpassed in readership by the free daily Metro) and talk that Knight Ridder will shut the paper down continues, especially with Knight Ridder executives floating the idea of turning the Inquirer into a tabloid.

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Daily News journalists are prominent at the Pen & Pencil Club, with Chris Brennan, Erin Einhorn, Kevin Bevan and Stu Bykovsky all serving as officers.

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