''The Washington Daily News'' was an afternoon
tabloid-size newspaper serving the
Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
History
''The Washington Daily News'' was owned by the
E. W. Scripps Company
The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...
. The newspaper was born on November 8, 1921, and competed with four established local daily newspapers, the ''
Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', the ''
Washington Times
''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...
'' (not to be confused with the
current ''Washington Times''), the ''
Washington Herald
''The Washington Herald'' was an American daily newspaper in Washington, D.C., from October 8, 1906, to January 31, 1939.
History
The paper was founded in 1906 by Scott C. Bone, who had been managing editor of ''The Washington Post'' from 1888 ...
'', and the ''
Washington Star
''The Washington Star'', previously known as the ''Washington Star-News'' and the Washington ''Evening Star'', was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C., between 1852 and 1981. The Sunday edition was known as the ''Sunday Star ...
'' (''The Evening Star''). The newspaper's masthead had "The News" printed in large, bold letters, with "Washington Daily" printed in small letters between them, over a rendering of the
U.S. Capitol dome.
One of its last stories was a leak, likely by the "
Deep Throat" whistleblower
Mark Felt
William Mark Felt Sr. (August 17, 1913 – December 18, 2008) was an American law enforcement officer who worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 1942 to 1973 and was known for his role in the Watergate scandal. Felt wa ...
, that E. Howard Hunt's safe contained a map of the
Watergate complex
The Watergate complex is a group of six buildings in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States. Covering a total of 10 acres (4 ha) just north of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the buildings incl ...
. However, the newspaper closed before the
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...
received national attention and Felt delivered the rest of his information to the rival ''Washington Post''.
On July 12, 1972, "certain assets" of ''The Washington Daily News'' were purchased by and merged with the competing'' Washington Star''.
The newspaper was soon renamed the ''Washington Star News''. By the late 1970s the word "News" completely disappeared from the title. During the 1960s and early 1970s, their offices were located across the street from DCFD Engine Company 16, which was the odd side of the 1000 block of 13th St. Northwest.
Personalities
''The Washington Daily News'' was the home newspaper for
Ernie Pyle
Ernest Taylor Pyle (August 3, 1900 – April 18, 1945) was a Pulitzer Prize–winning American journalist and war correspondent who is best known for his stories about ordinary American soldiers during World War II. Pyle is also notable for the ...
, the famed war correspondent. People who gained recognition while working at the ''Daily News'' include
Judy Mann, who was part of an early
Vietnam War protest sit-in at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. Others who gained recognition from the ''News'' included Bill Beall, who won a
Pulitzer Pulitzer may refer to:
*Joseph Pulitzer, a 20th century media magnate
*Pulitzer Prize, an annual U.S. journalism, literary, and music award
*Pulitzer (surname)
* Pulitzer, Inc., a U.S. newspaper chain
*Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-pro ...
for "
Faith and Confidence", a photo of a child and a police officer;
Fischer, Heinz Dietrich. ''The Pulitzer Prize Archive: A History and Anthology of Award-winning Materials in Journalism, Letters and Arts''
Google Books. Retrieved 2012-07-28 and Samuel A. Stafford - Heywood Broun Award winner (and Pulitzer runner-up for investigative reporting) famous for stories that unmasked the Surplus Food program abuses which led to the modern SNAP
Snap or SNAP may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Snap'', the original release title for the 2013 film ''Enter the Dangerous Mind''
*''Snap'' (TV series), a CITV programme
* ''The Stanly News and Press'', a newspaper in Albemarle, North Carol ...
and WIC
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is an American federal assistance program of the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for healthcare and nutritio ...
programs; horse racing analyst Andrew Beyer
Andrew Beyer (born 17 Nov 1943) is an American expert on horse race betting who designed the Beyer Speed Figure.
In the early 1970s, while working for the ''Washington Daily News'', Beyer did extensive work on the concept of speed figures and w ...
, and Inter-American Press Association
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA; Spanish: ''Sociedad Interamericana de Prensa'', SIP) is a press advocacy group representing major media organizations in North America, South America and the Caribbean. It is made up of more than 1,3 ...
(IAPA) President as well as Columbia University Maria Moors Cabot gold medal Winner John Thomas O'Rourke.
The paper was the favored newspaper of the majority African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
population in Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
at a time when this market for newspapers was secondary. When it finally closed its doors in 1972, the huge letters outside the printing presses and offices were removed and given to the reporters and others as keepsakes, some of which were turned into coffee tables.
See also
* List of newspapers in Washington, D.C.
This is a list of newspapers in Washington, D.C. These newspapers are published or headquartered in Washington, D.C. There have been over 800 newspapers published in the District of Columbia since its founding in 1790. At the beginning of 20 ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington Daily News
Newspapers published in Washington, D.C.
Defunct newspapers published in Washington, D.C.
Newspapers established in 1921
1921 establishments in Washington, D.C.
