 The front page of thePhiladelphia Daily News following thePhiladelphia Phillies victory in the2008 World Series | |
| Type | Daily newspaper (Monday-Saturday) |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner | The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC |
| Editor | Michael Days |
| Managing editor | Pat McLoone |
| News editor | Gar Joseph |
| Sports editor | Rich Hofmann |
| Photo editor | Michael Mercanti |
| Founded | March 31, 1925; 100 years ago (1925-03-31) |
| Headquarters | 801Market Street Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Circulation | 97,694[1] |
| Sister newspapers | The Philadelphia Inquirer |
| Website | philly |
Philadelphia Daily News is atabloid newspaper that servesPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned byThe Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, and is published as an edition ofThe Philadelphia Inquirer.
TheDaily News began publishing on March 31, 1925, under founding editor Lee Ellmaker. By 1930, the newspaper'scirculation exceeded 200,000, but by the 1950s the news paper was losing money. In 1954, the newspaper was sold to Matthew McCloskey and then sold again in 1957 to publisherWalter Annenberg.
In 1969, Annenberg sold theDaily News toKnight Ridder. In 2006 Knight Ridder sold the paper to a group of local investors, and it later became part of Philadelphia Media Network (PMN) withThe Inquirer. PMN was donated to theThe Philadelphia Foundation in 2016, and theDaily News became an edition ofThe Inquirer in 2019. TheDaily News has won threePulitzer Prizes.
Philadelphia Daily News began publishing on March 31, 1925, under founding editor Lee Ellmaker.[2] In its early years, it was dominated by crime stories, sports andsensationalism. By 1930, dailycirculation of the morning paper exceeded 200,000. Circulation dropped over the years, and by 1954, the money-losing paper was sold to Matthew McCloskey, a contractor and treasurer of thePennsylvania Democratic Party. In December 1956, the paper's financial condition was so bad that McCloskey got permission from the unions for a 90 percent cut in the workforce.
In 1957, McCloskey sold the paper toWalter Annenberg, publisher ofThe Philadelphia Inquirer. Annenberg killed off theDaily News' Sunday edition and made the tabloid into an afternoon paper.
In 1969, Annenberg sold both papers to Knight Newspapers Inc., which eventually becameKnight Ridder following a merger. Under the new ownership, theDaily News returned to morning publication and aimed to be taken more seriously.
The newspaper continues to struggle financially. It was surpassed in circulation, but not readership, by the free dailyMetro. When the sale of Knight Ridder toThe McClatchy Company was announced in March 2006, there were rumors that McClatchy would close theDaily News. However, in May, before the sale was finalized, it was announced that theInquirer andDaily News would be re-sold to Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C., a local group led by advertising executiveBrian Tierney and co-founder of theToll Brothers homebuilding firm, Bruce Toll. The deal became official on June 29, 2006. The group intended to strengthen the online presence of both papers, and began an extensive ad campaign.[3]
Falling circulation and ad revenue caused Philadelphia Media Holdings to make theDaily News into an edition ofThe Philadelphia Inquirer. Without making any other changes to theDaily News, making it part ofThe Inquirer would combine the circulation numbers of both papers by theAudit Bureau of Circulation. The idea was to make the newspapers more attractive to advertisers.[4]
On April 14, 2010, Brian Tierney announced that theDaily News would launch a weekend edition in October. The weekend edition's content would be similar to the daily edition, but would have features that would not be time sensitive and be able to be read anytime during the week.[5]
In early 2009, debts from buying the newspapers forced Philadelphia Newspapers LLC intoChapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[6] The bankruptcy was the beginning of a year-long dispute between Philadelphia Media Holdings and creditors. The group of creditors, which include banks and hedge funds, wanted to take control of Philadelphia Newspapers LLC themselves, and opposed efforts by Philadelphia Media Holdings to keep control. Philadelphia Media Holdings received support from most of the paper's unions and launched a public relations campaign to promote local ownership.[7]
A bankruptcy auction was held on April 28, 2010. The group of lending creditors and a group of local investors allied with Brian Tierney both bid for Philadelphia Newspapers, but the lenders had the winning bid.[8] The lenders' company,Philadelphia Media Network (PMN), took control later that year. In July 2012, after selling the Inquirer Building in 2011, theDaily News along withThe Inquirer and Philly.com moved their offices to the 3rd floor of the oldStrawbridge & Clothier department store on East Market Street.[9]
In 2016, Lenfest donated PMN toThe Philadelphia Foundation so thatThe Inquirer, theDaily News, and their joint website, Philly.com, could remain in Philadelphia.[10] In 2019, PMN renamed Philly.com to Inquirer.com and made theDaily News an edition of theInquirer. PMN was renamed The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC.[11]
Journalists with thePhiladelphia Daily News have won threePulitzer Prizes. Richard Aregood won in1985 foreditorial writing,Signe Wilkinson won for hereditorial cartoons in1992, and Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman won in2010 forinvestigating reporting for their "Tainted Justice" series focusing on the alleged misdeeds of a rogue narcotics squad.[12]
The George Fencl Award, named in honor ofPhiladelphia Police Officer George Fencl, is given by theDaily News to a Philadelphia Police Officer who exemplifies compassion, fairness, and civic commitment. The award was first given in 1986.[13]
| Year | Rank | Name | District/Division |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Captain | David Morrell | 26th District, Commanding Officer |
| 1987 | Officer | Wiley L. Redding | 35th District, Community Relations |
| 1988 | Officer | Joe Donato | 19th District |
| 1989 | Captain | Al Lewis | 22nd District, Commanding Officer |
| 1990 | Lieutenant | Jose Manuel Melendez | East Division, Community Interaction Task Force |
| 1991 | Captain | George Fenzil | Traffic Unit, Commanding Officer |
| 1992 | Lieutenant | Stephen Johnson | Police Conflict-Prevention and Resolution Unit, Commanding Officer |
| 1993 | Officer | Edwin "Bo" Diaz | 26th District, Community Relations |
| 1994 | Captain | Arthur Durrant | 26th District, Commanding Officer |
| 1995 | Officer | James Perkins | 2nd District |
| 1996 | Officer | Joseph Dembeck | 14th District |
| 1997 | Officer | Brenda Robinson-Stowe | 16th District, Mounted Officer |
| 1998 | Captain | William Colarulo | 25th District, Commanding Officer |
| 1999 | Officer | Bernard Turner | 22nd District |
| 2000 | Chief Inspector | Dexter Green | Special Operations Unit, Commanding Officer |
| 2001 | Deputy Commissioner | Sylvester Johnson | Patrol, Narcotics, Detectives, and Special Operations, Commanding Officer |
| 2002 | Captain | William Fisher | Civil Affairs Unit, Commanding Officer |
| 2003 | Officer | Ruth McNatte | 16th District, Community Relations |
| 2004 | Chief Inspector | James Tiano | Community Affairs Bureau, Commanding Officer |
| 2005 | Officer | Darlene Chapman-Cummings | Anti-Drug Program: DARE |
| 2006 | Officer | AnnaMae Law | 26th District |
| 2007 | Sergeant | Kimberly Byrd | Chief of Staff |
| 2008 | Captain | Kevin Bethel | 17th District, Commanding Officer |
| 2009 | Officer | Adrian Hospedale | 12th District |
| 2010 | Officer | Richard "Butch" Riddick | 12th District |
| 2011 | Officer | Joseph Young | 12th District, Community Relations |
TheDaily News named its firstSportsperson of the Year in 2008.[14]
