The ''New York Daily Mirror'' was an American morning

tabloid newspaper A tabloid is a newspaper format characterized by its compact size, smaller than a broadsheet. The term originates from the 19th century, when the London-based pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, Burroughs Wellcome & Co. used the term to de ...

first published on June 24, 1924, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

by the

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

organization as a contrast to their mainstream

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of in height. Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper ...

s, the ''Evening Journal'' and ''New York American'', later consolidated into the '' New York Journal American''. It was created to compete with the ''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

'' which was then a sensationalist tabloid and the most widely circulated newspaper in the United States. Hearst preferred the broadsheet format and sold the ''Mirror'' to an associate in 1928, only to buy it back in 1932. Hearst hired Philip Payne away from the ''Daily News'' as managing editor of the ''Mirror''. Payne's circulation building stunts ranged from reviving the sensational Hall-Mills murder case to sponsoring and being a passenger on the '' Old Glory'', transatlantic flying record attempt, in which he was killed. Early on, several bright young writers and photographic journalists joined the ''Daily Mirror'', such as Ring Lardner, Jr.,

Hy Peskin Hyman Peskin (November 5, 1915 – June 2, 2005) was an American photographer known for several famous photographs of American sports people and celebrities published by ''Sports Illustrated'' and ''Life''. He was a pioneer of sports photography, w ...

and the political commentator Drew Pearson.Kenneth T. Jackson: ''The Encyclopedia of New York City'': The New York Historical Society; Yale University Press; 1995. P. 107. The poet-songwriter Nick Kenny was the paper's radio editor, and Edward Zeltner contributed a column. The gossip columnist

Walter Winchell Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and c ...

and managing editor Emile Gauvreau were both hired away from the '' New York Evening Graphic'', the city's third sensational tabloid. Winchell was given his own radio show and syndicated, in his prime—the 1940s and early 1950s—in more than 2000 daily papers. Arthur H. Sloggatt served as the full-time political cartoonist from 1956 until the paper's closure in 1963. During the three tabloids' 1920s circulation war, management of the ''Mirror'' estimated that its content was 10% news and 90% entertainment. For example, the ''Mirror'' and ''Graphic'' both had devoted substantial resources to the exploitation of

scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...

with repeated stories on such events as the

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

trial of real estate

tycoon A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

Edward West "Daddy" Browning who at age 51 had married 16-year-old Frances Belle "Peaches" Heenan, as well as constant coverage of the decade's celebrities like

Rudolph Valentino Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor who starred in several well-known sile ...

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...

and Charles A. Lindbergh. By the 1930s, the ''Daily Mirror'' was one of the

Hearst Corporation Hearst Corporation, Hearst Holdings Inc. and Hearst Communications Inc. comprise an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate owned by the Hearst family and based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan in New York ...

's largest papers in terms of circulation. However, the paper never became a significantly profitable property as its earnings were mostly destined to support the company's faltering afternoon papers, and in its later years it declined substantially despite numerous efforts to turn things around. Despite having the second-highest daily circulation of an American newspaper at the time, the ''Daily Mirror'' closed in 1963, after the 114-day 1962–63 New York City newspaper strike (which also contributed to the death of the ''Herald Tribune'', the ''Journal-American'' and the ''World-Telegram and Sun''). On October 16, 1963, the ''Daily Mirror'' published its last issue. The ''Daily Mirror'' name rights were at that point acquired by its rival the '' Daily News''. On January 4, 1971, publisher Robert W. Farrell revived the ''New York Daily Mirror'' in name only, as a tabloid, published in

Long Island City, Queens Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brook ...

. Operating on a shoestring budget,Pricci, John
"Truth Can be Overrated,"
Horserace Insider. (June 1, 2011). Accessed Sept. 20, 2011. the paper faced obstruction from the ''Daily News''"533 F.2d 53: Daily Mirror, Inc., Plaintiff-appellant, v. New York News, Inc., et al., Defendants-appellees; United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. - 533 F.2d 53"
, Justia. Accessed Sept. 20, 2011. (from whom it had acquired the ''Daily Mirror'' name rights after the ''Daily News'' let them lapse). This new iteration of the ''Daily Mirror'' ceased publication on February 28, 1972.

References

{{Hearst Defunct newspapers published in New York City Newspapers established in 1924 Publications disestablished in 1963 1924 establishments in New York City 1963 disestablishments in New York (state) Daily newspapers published in New York City

See also

References