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| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) |
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| Founder(s) |
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| Founded | 1875 |
| Ceased publication | 1978 |
| Headquarters | (1959–1978) 401 North Wabash (1929–1959) 400 West Madison |
| City | Chicago,Illinois |
| Country | United States |
TheChicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper in themidwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 inChicago, Illinois.[1]
TheDaily News was founded byMelville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty in 1875 and began publishing on December 23.Byron Andrews, fresh out ofHobart College, was one of the first reporters. The paper aimed for a mass readership in contrast to its primary competitor, theChicago Tribune, which appealed to the city's elites. TheDaily News was Chicago's firstpenny paper, and the city's most widely read newspaper in the late nineteenth century.[2]Victor Lawson bought theChicago Daily News in 1876 and became its business manager. Stone remained involved as an editor and later bought back an ownership stake, but Lawson took over full ownership again in 1888.[3]
During his long tenure at theDaily News, Victor Lawson pioneered many areas of reporting, opening one of the first foreign bureaus among U.S. newspapers in 1898. In 1912, theDaily News became one of a cooperative of four newspapers, including theNew York Globe,The Boston Globe, and thePhiladelphia Bulletin, to form theAssociated Newspapers syndicate. In 1922, Lawson started one of the first columns devoted to radio. He also introduced many innovations to business operations including advances in newspaper promotion, classified advertising, and syndication of news stories, serials, and comics.[4]
Victor Lawson died in August 1925, leaving no instructions in his will regarding the disposition of theDaily News.Walter A. Strong, who was Lawson's business manager, spent the rest of the year raising the capital he needed to buy theDaily News. The Chicago Daily News Corporation, of which Strong was the major stockholder, bought the newspaper for $13.7 million (equivalent to $245 million in 2024)[5]—the highest price paid for a newspaper up to that time.[6] Strong was the president and publisher of the Chicago Daily News Corporation from December 1925 until his death in May 1931.
As Lawson's business manager, Strong partnered withthe Fair Department Store to create a new radio station. Strong askedJudith C. Waller to run the new station. When Waller protested that she didn't know anything about running a station. Strong replied "neither do I, but come down and we'll find out."[7] Waller was hired in February 1922 and went on to have a long and distinguished career in broadcasting. What would becomeWMAQ had its inaugural broadcast April 12, 1922.
That same year, the rivalChicago Tribune began to experiment with radio news atWestinghouse-ownedKYW. In 1924 theTribune briefly took over stationWJAZ, changing its call letters to WGN, then purchased station WDAP outright and permanently transferred theWGN call letters to this second station.[8]
TheDaily News would eventually take full ownership of the station and absorb shared band rival WQJ, which was jointly owned by theCalumet Baking Powder Company and theRainbo Gardens ballroom.[9][10] WMAQ would pioneer many firsts in radio—one of them the first completeChicago Cubs season broadcast on radio in 1925, hosted by sportswriter-turned-sportscasterHal Totten.[11] In April 1930, WMAQ was organized as a subsidiary corporation with Walter Strong as its chairman of the board, and Judith Waller as vice president and station manager.[12]
On August 2, 1929, it was announced that theChicago Daily Journal was consolidating with theDaily News, and theJournal published its final issue on August 21.[13]
By the late 1920s, it was apparent to Walter Strong that his newspaper and broadcast operations needed more space. He acquired the air rights over the railroad tracks that ran along the west side of the Chicago River. He commissioned architectsHolabird & Root to design a modern building over the tracks that would have newspaper production facilities and radio studios. The 26-floorChicago Daily News Building opened in 1929. It featured a large plaza with a fountain dedicated to Strong's mentor, Victor Lawson, and a mural byJohn W. Norton depicting thenewspaper production process.[14] TheArt Deco structure became a Chicago landmark, and stands today under the nameRiverside Plaza.
In 1930, the radio station obtained a license for an experimental television station, W9XAP, but had already begun transmitting from it just prior to its being granted.[15][16] Working withSears Roebuck stores by providing them with the receivers, those present at the stores were able to seeBill Hay, (the announcer forAmos 'n' Andy), present a variety show from the Daily News Building, on August 27, 1930.[17][18]Ulises Armand Sanabria was the television pioneer behind this and other early Chicago television experiments. In 1931The Daily News sold WMAQ toNBC.[19]
In its heyday as an independent newspaper from the 1930s to 1950s theDaily News was widely syndicated and boasted a first-class foreign news service.[20] It became known for its distinctive, aggressive writing style which 1920s editorHenry Justin Smith likened to a daily novel. This style became the hallmark of the newspaper: "For generations", as Wayne Klatt puts it inChicago Journalism: A History, "newspeople had been encouraged to write on the order ofCharles Dickens, but the Daily News was instructing its staff to present facts in cogent short paragraphs, which forced rivals to do the same."[21] In the 1950s, city editorClement Quirk Lane (whose son John would becomeWalter Cronkite's executive producer) issued a memo to the staff that has become something of a memorial of the paper's house style, a copy of which can be found on Lane's entry.
After a long period of ownership by Knight Newspapers (laterKnight Ridder), the paper was acquired in 1959 byField Enterprises, owned by heirs of the former owner of theMarshall Field and Companydepartment store chain. Field already owned the morningChicago Sun-Times, and theDaily News moved into theSun-Times' building on North Wabash Avenue. A few years laterMike Royko became the paper's lead columnist, and quickly rose to local and national prominence. However, the Field years were mostly a period of decline for the newspaper, partly due to management decisions but also due to demographic changes; the circulation of afternoon dailies generally declined with the rise of television, and downtown newspapers suffered as readers moved to the suburbs.
In 1977 theDaily News was redesigned and added features intended to increase its appeal to younger readers, but the changes did not reverse the paper's continuing decline in circulation. TheChicago Daily News published its last edition on Saturday, March 4, 1978.[1]
As reported inThe Wall Street Journal, later in 1978,Lloyd H Weston, president, editor and publisher of Addison Leader Newspapers, Inc., a group of weekly tabloids in the west and northwest suburbs—obtained rights to theChicago Daily News trademark. Under a new corporation, CDN Publishing Co., Inc., based in DuPage County, Weston published a number of special editions of theChicago Daily News, including one celebrating theChicago Auto Show.
The following year, aRosemont-based group headed by former Illinois governorRichard B. Ogilvie contracted to purchase CDN Publishing, with the expressed intention of publishing theChicago Daily News as a weekend edition beginning that August. Weston hosted a party celebrating the signing of the contract with Ogilvie at the iconic Pump Room in the Ambassador Chicago Hotel. The gala was attended by hundreds of the city's well-known names in politics, publishing, broadcasting and advertising.
The next day, Ogilvie reneged on the deal. The check he signed as payment to Weston bounced and his corporation filed for federal bankruptcy protection.
Weston's last edition of theChicago Daily News featured extensive photo coverage of the October 4, 1979, visit to Chicago ofPope John Paul II.
In 1984, Weston sold his rights to theChicago Daily News trademark toRupert Murdoch, who, at the time, was owner and publisher of theChicago Sun-Times.
The headquarters of theDaily News andSun-Times was located at 401 North Wabash before the building was demolished. It is now the site ofTrump International Hotel and Tower.
TheChicago Daily News was awarded the Pulitzer Prize thirteen times.
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service (1926–1950) | ||
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Pulitzer Prize for Public Service (1951–1975) | ||
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