Chicago Daily News Ice Carnival, 1926

The Chicago Daily News, the city's first penny paper and the most widely read publication in Chicago during the late nineteenth century, was founded in 1875 by Melville H. Stone. When Victor F. Lawson bought the paper in 1876, he retained Stone as editor. The Daily News started with a one-cent afternoon edition; in 1881, it introduced a two-cent morning edition. By the late 1880s, when it lowered the price of the morning edition to a penny, it enjoyed a daily circulation of about 200,000, which made it one of the most widely read newspapers in the world. After Stone retired in 1888, Lawson took over complete control of the paper. It remained Chicago's most popular newspaper until 1918, when its circulation was surpassed by the Chicago Tribune. Even after Lawson died in 1925, however, the Daily News remained an important local publication. By the end of the 1920s, circulation was about 430,000, and the paper employed over 2,000 people at its headquarters on West Madison. At the end of World War II, when annual revenues approached $15 million, the paper ranked among the top 15 publishing companies in the United States. In 1959, with a circulation of around 600,000, the Daily News was purchased by Field Enterprises, owner of the Chicago Sun-Times. The Daily News ceased to exist in 1978, when it was absorbed by the Sun-Times.

This entry is part of the Encyclopedia's Dictionary of Leading Chicago Businesses (1820-2000) that was prepared by Mark R. Wilson, with additional contributions from Stephen R. Porter and Janice L. Reiff.