The Yale Daily News is the nation’s oldest college daily newspaper. The paper is published Monday through Friday during the academic year and serves the communities of Yale University and New Haven. In addition to the Daily News, YDN also publishes the WKND Friday supplement and several special issues throughout the year, including the Yale-Harvard Game Day Issue and the Commencement Issue. The News is editorially and financially independent. Many of the newspaper’s editors and writers have gone on to achieve significant professional success in journalism and other fields.

Founded in 1919 as the Illustrated Daily News, it was the first tabloid newspaper to be widely successful in the United States. During the 1920s, the New York City paper attracted readers with sensational coverage of crime and scandal, lurid photographs, and comics and other entertainment features. The newspaper was among the most influential in America during this period, and its founder, Cornelius Vanderbilt IV, served as publisher until his death in 1954.

In the decades following World War II, the Daily News shifted its political stance from one of isolationism in the early 1940s to more centrist politics. By the 1990s, it had established a reputation as a moderate alternative to its right-wing sister paper, the New York Post. Today, the newspaper maintains a strong focus on local and national politics, with an emphasis on investigative reporting.

The News also continues to carry intense city news coverage, celebrity gossip, classified ads, a sports section, and a weekly comics page. The newspaper’s offices, designed by architects John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood, are an architectural landmark at 220 East 42nd Street near Second Avenue in Manhattan. The building was used as the set for the first two Superman films and is now known as the News Building or, more formally, 5 Manhattan West.

As part of its ongoing commitment to the community, the News is proud to support local organizations fighting to prevent opioid abuse and addiction through various programs and initiatives. The paper recently donated a number of Narcan kits to be distributed to the public in Montcalm County, making it easier for residents to access the lifesaving medication.

The Yale Daily News Historical Archive consists of digitized versions of printed editions of the News, from the first issue on January 28, 1878 to the present. The collection is open to the general public, and users may browse or search all of the issues in the archive. In 2021, an anonymous Yale College alumnus made a generous gift to the Library that has facilitated this project’s migration to a new and more user-friendly platform and helped ensure its long-term sustainability. This gift is gratefully acknowledged. For more information about donating to the Archive, please visit our Donate page. For a complete list of contributing libraries, see our Contributors page. For more about YDN’s archives, including permissions to reproduce YDN content, see our YDN Archive policy. If you have questions or comments about this website, contact the Webmaster.