''Newsday'' is an American daily

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...

that primarily serves

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

and

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

counties on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

, although it is also sold throughout the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and formerly it was "Newsday, the Long Island Newspaper". The newspaper's headquarters is in Melville, New York, in Suffolk County. ''Newsday'' has won 19

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...

s and has been a finalist for 20 more. As of 2019, its weekday circulation of 250,000 was the 8th-highest in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, and the highest among suburban newspapers. By January 2014, ''Newsday''s total average circulation was 437,000 on weekdays, 434,000 on Saturdays and 495,000 on Sundays. As of June 2022, the paper had an average print circulation of 97,182.

History

Founded by Alicia Patterson and her husband, Harry Guggenheim, the publication was first produced on September 3, 1940 from Hempstead. For many years until a major redesign in the 1970s, ''Newsday'' copied the ''Daily News'' format of short stories and numerous pictures. (Ironically, Patterson was fired as a writer at her father's ''Daily News'' in her early 20s, after getting the basic facts of a divorce wrong in a published report.) After Patterson's death in 1963, Guggenheim became publisher and editor. In 1967, Guggenheim turned over the publisher position to Bill Moyers and continued as president and editor-in-chief. But Guggenheim was disappointed by the liberal drift of the newspaper under Moyers, criticizing what he called the "left-wing" coverage of Vietnam War protests. The two split over the 1968 presidential election, with Guggenheim signing an editorial supporting

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

, when Moyers supported

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing ...

. Guggenheim sold his majority share to the then-conservative Times-Mirror Company over the attempt of newspaper employees to block the sale, even though Moyers offered $10 million more than the Times-Mirror purchase price; Moyers resigned a few days later. Guggenheim, who died a year later, disinherited Moyers from his will. After the competing '' Long Island Press'' (not to be confused with the alternative weekly of the same name) ceased publication in 1977, ''Newsday'' launched a separate

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

edition, followed by a New York City edition dubbed ''New York Newsday''. In June 2000, Times Mirror merged with the Tribune Company, partnering ''Newsday'' with the New York City television station

WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, it is operated under a local marketing agreement (LMA) by Nexstar Media Group, making it a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station and flagship of ...

(Channel 11), also owned by Tribune. With the Times Mirror-Tribune merger, the newspaper founded by Alicia Patterson was now owned by the company that was founded by her great-grandfather, Joseph Medill — which owns the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' and, until 1991, also owned her father's ''Daily News''. (Tribune sold the ''Daily News'' to British newspaper magnate

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, Parliament of the United Kingdom, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster. Early i ...

. After Maxwell's death in 1992, his publishing empire collapsed and Mortimer Zuckerman purchased the ''Daily News''.)

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, real estate magnate

Samuel Zell Samuel Zell (born Shmuel Zielonka, September 28, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. A former lawyer, Zell is the founder and chairman of Equity Group Investments, a private investment firm, founded in 1968. He has ...

purchased Tribune in 2007. News Corporation, headed by CEO

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

, attempted to purchase ''Newsday'' for US$580 million in April 2008. This was soon followed by a matching bid from Zuckerman and a $680 million bid from

Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its e ...

. In May 2008, News Corporation withdrew its bid, and on May 12, 2008, ''Newsday'' reported that Cablevision would purchase the paper for $650 million. The sale was completed July 29, 2008.

Altice

Altice, a

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-based multinational telecoms company, bought Cablevision, including Newsday and News 12 in 2016. However, Altice then sold a majority (75%) stake in ''Newsday'' back to Cablevision's former owner Charles Dolan and his son Patrick, making Patrick the CEO of ''Newsday''. Altice disposed of its remaining stake in ''Newsday'' at the end of July 2018, which, combined with Charles Dolan's transfer of shares to son Patrick, makes Patrick the sole owner of ''Newsday''. Newsday received $10 million in federal loans by July 2020 from Paycheck Protection Program during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

to pay salaries for 500 jobs.

Editorial style

Despite having a

tabloid Tabloid may refer to: * Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism * Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size ** Chinese tabloid * Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size * Sopwith Tabloid The Sopwith Tabloid an ...

format, ''Newsday'' is not known for being sensationalistic, as are other local daily tabloids, such as the New York '' Daily News'' and the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

''. This causes Newsday to sometimes be referred to as "the respectable tabloid". In 2004, the alternative weekly newspaper '' Long Island Press'' (which is not related to the defunct daily of the same name) wrote that ''Newsday'' has used its clout to influence local politics in

and

Counties. Bill Moyers briefly served as publisher. During the tenure of publisher Robert M. Johnson in the 1980s, Newsday made a major push into New York City. The paper's roster of columnists and critics has included Cathy Young, Jimmy Breslin,

Barbara Garson Barbara Garson (born July 7, 1941, Brooklyn) is an American playwright, author and social activist, perhaps best known for the play ''MacBird!'' Education and personal life Garson attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she e ...

, Normand Poirier, Murray Kempton, Gail Collins,

Pete Hamill Pete Hamill (born William Peter Hamill; June 24, 1935August 5, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and editor. During his career as a New York City journalist, he was described as "the author of columns that sought to capture ...

, Sydney Schanberg, Robert Reno (died 2012), Jim Dwyer, sportswriter Mike Lupica, music critic Tim Page, and television critic Marvin Kitman. The paper featured both advice columnists Ann Landers and Dear Abby for several years. From 1985 to 2005, Michael Mandelbaum wrote a regular foreign affairs analysis column for ''Newsday''. Noted writer and biographer

Robert Caro Robert Allan Caro (born October 30, 1935) is an American journalist and author known for his biographies of United States political figures Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson. After working for many years as a reporter, Caro wrote '' The Power ...

was an investigative reporter. Its features section has included, among others, television

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

s Verne Gay and Diane Werts, TV/film feature writer

Frank Lovece Frank Lovece () is an American journalist and author, and a comic book writer primarily for Marvel Comics, where he and artist Mike Okamoto created the miniseries ''Atomic Age''. His longest affiliation has been with the New York metropolitan ...

, and film critic Rafer Guzman. Newsday carries the syndicated columnist Froma Harrop.

winner Walt Handelsman's editorial political cartoons animation are a nationally syndicated feature of Newsday. In the 1980s, a new design director, Robert Eisner, guided the transition into digital design and color printing. ''Newsday'' created and sponsored a "Long Island at the Crossroads" advisory board in 1978, to recommend regional goals, supervise local government, and liaison with state and Federal officials. It lasted approximately a decade. On March 21, 2011, ''Newsday'' redesigned its front page, scrapping the

nameplate A nameplate identifies and displays a person or product's name. Nameplates are usually shaped as rectangles but are also seen in other shapes, sometimes taking on the shape of someone's written name. Nameplates primarily serve an informat ...

and font used since the 1960s in favor of a sans-serif wordmark.

Circulation

In 2008, ''Newsday'' was ranked 10th in terms of newspaper circulation in the United States. A circulation scandal in 2004 revealed that the paper's daily and Sunday circulation had been inflated by 16.9% and 14.5%, respectively, in the auditing period September 30, 2002 to September 30, 2003. The Audit Bureau of Circulation adjusted average weekday circulation to 481,816 from 579,599; average Saturday circulation to 392,649 from 416,830; and average Sunday circulation to 574,081 from 671,820, and instituted twice-yearly audits. On October 28, 2009, ''Newsday'' changed its web site to a paid-subscriber only model. Newsday.com would open its front page, classified ads, movie listings, and school closings to all site visitors, but access beyond this content would require a weekly fee – US$5 as of 2010. This fee would be waived for subscribers of the print edition of the paper, as well as for subscribers to parent-company Cablevision's Internet service. Through its first three months only 35 non-Optimum, non-''Newsday'' subscribers signed up for the paid web site.

Pulitzer Prize

''Newsday'' has won 19

s and has been a finalist for 20 additional (if no individual is listed, award is for ''Newsday'' staff): * 1954: Public Service (Winner) * 1970: Public Service (Winner) * 1970: Editorial Cartooning (Winner) —

Thomas F. Darcy Thomas Francis Darcy (December 19, 1932 – December 6, 2000) was an American Editorial cartoon, political cartoonist. While working at ''Newsday'', he won the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning. Thomas was born in the Brooklyn, New ...

* 1974: Public Service (Winner) * 1974: Criticism (Winner) — Emily Genauer, Newsday Syndicate * 1980: Local Investigative Specialized Reporting (Finalist) — Carole E. Agus, Andrew V. Fetherston Jr. and Frederick J. Tuccillo * 1982: International Reporting (Finalist) — Bob Wyrick * 1982: Criticism (Finalist) — Marvin Kitman * 1984: Local General or Spot News Reporting (Winner) * 1984: International Reporting (Finalist) —

Morris Thompson Morris "Morrie" Thompson (September 11, 1939 – January 31, 2000) was an Alaska Native leader, American businessman and political appointee working on matters related to Alaska Natives. Thompson was best known as the official in charge of the ...

* 1984: Criticism (Finalist) — Dan Cryer * 1985: International Reporting (Winner) —

Josh Friedman Josh Friedman (born 14 February 1967) is an American screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for his work on the science-fiction action genre, including on the series '' Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles'', the film adapta ...

Dennis Bell Dennis Bell may refer to: * Dennis Bell (basketball) (born 1951), American basketball player * Dennis Bell (footballer) (born 1940), Australian rules footballer * Dennis Bell (journalist) (1948–1995), American journalist * Dennis Bell (Medal ...

, and Ozier Muhammad * 1985: Commentary (Winner) — Murray Kempton * 1986: Feature Writing (Finalist) — Irene Virag * 1989: Investigative Reporting (Finalist) — Penny Loeb * 1990: Specialized Reporting (Finalist) – Jim Dwyer * 1991: Spot News Reporting (Finalist) * 1991: Spot News Photography (Finalist) * 1992: Spot News Reporting (Winner) * 1992: International Reporting (Winner) —

Patrick J. Sloyan Patrick Joseph Sloyan was a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, known for reporting on the Gulf War during the 1990s and revealing deaths of American troops caused by friendly fire. Early life and education A native of Stamford, Connecticut ...

* 1993: International Reporting (Winner) —

Roy Gutman Roy Gutman (born March 5, 1944) is an American journalist and author. Biography Gutman received a B.A. degree from Haverford College with a major in History and an MSc. degree from the London School of Economics in International Relations. Roy ...

* 1994: Explanatory Journalism (Finalist) * 1995: Investigative Reporting (Winner) — Brian Donovan and

Stephanie Saul Stephanie Saul is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist known for her work at ''Newsday'' and ''The New York Times''. Early life Saul grew up in New Albany, Mississippi. In middle school, she wrote the "Snoop" column for the school newspaper. In h ...

* 1995: Commentary (Winner) — Jim Dwyer * 1996: Explanatory Journalism (Winner) — Laurie Garrett * 1996: Beat Reporting (Winner) — Bob Keeler * 1996: International Reporting (Finalist) — Laurie Garrett * 1997: Spot News Reporting (Winner) * 1998: Beat Reporting (Finalist) — Laurie Garrett * 1999: Criticism (Finalist) — Justin Davidson * 1999: Editorial Writing (Finalist) — Lawrence C. Levy * 2002: Criticism (Winner) —

Justin Davidson Justin Davidson (born in Rome, Italy, in 1966) is a classical music and architecture critic. In 1983, he graduated from the American Overseas School of Rome, where his mother was an English teacher. Davidson began his journalism career as a l ...

* 2004: Breaking News Reporting (Finalist) * 2005: International Reporting (Winner) — Dele Olojede * 2005: Explanatory Reporting (Finalist) * 2007: Editorial Cartooning (Winner) — Walt Handelsman * 2008: Public Service (Finalist) — Jennifer Barrios, Sophia Chang, Michael R. Ebert, Reid J. Epstein, Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, Eden Laikin, Herbert Lowe, Joseph Mallia, Jennifer Maloney, Luis Perez and Karla Schuster * 2013: Editorial Writing (Finalist) — Editorial Board staff * 2014: Public Service (Finalist)

In popular culture

* In the 1985 comedy/thriller ''

Compromising Positions ''Compromising Positions'' is a 1985 American film released by Paramount Pictures and directed by Frank Perry. The screenplay, by Susan Isaacs, was adapted from her 1978 novel. The plot concerns a Long Island housewife and former journalist who ...

'', the lead character, played by Susan Sarandon, is a former ''Newsday'' journalist who is trying reestablish her career by selling a freelance story to the publication. * On the 1996–2005 CBS sitcom '' Everybody Loves Raymond'', the fictional character Ray Barone (played by Ray Romano) is employed by ''Newsday'' as a sportswriter. * The lead female character in the '' Crocodile Dundee'' films works at ''Newsday''. * The episode "

The Homer They Fall "The Homer They Fall" is the third episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 10, 1996. After Homer realizes he has a bizarre ...

" in season eight of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, ...

'' quotes ''Newsday'' calling

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

"the cruelest sport". * ''

Naked Came the Stranger ''Naked Came the Stranger'' is a 1969 novel written as a literary hoax poking fun at the American literary culture of its time. Though credited to "Penelope Ashe," it was in fact written by a group of twenty-four journalists led by ''Newsday' ...

'' is a 1969 novel written as a literary hoax poking fun at contemporary American culture. Although credited to "Penelope Ashe", it was in fact written by a group of twenty-four journalists led by ''Newsday'' columnist Mike McGrady. McGrady's intention was to write a deliberately terrible book with a lot of sex, to illustrate the point that popular American literary culture had become mindlessly vulgar. The book fulfilled the authors' expectations and became a bestseller in 1969; they revealed the hoax later that year, further spurring the book's popularity. *Former editor Howard Schneider appears in the documentary '' Three Identical Strangers'' to discuss ''Newsday'''s coverage of three young men who discovered they were separated as infants.

References

External links

Newsday.com2001 interview with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Dennis Duggan
Leon Charney on the Leon Charney Report {{PulitzerPrize PublicService 1951–1975 Daily newspapers published in New York (state) *N Pulitzer Prize-winning newspapers Huntington, New York Newspapers established in 1940 2008 mergers and acquisitions Pulitzer Prize for Public Service winners 1940 establishments in New York (state)