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Matthew Pressman @mattpressman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Homophobia was the norm in American media in the 20th century, but the NY Daily News—America’s most popular newspaper—was worse than most. Best known example is the mocking coverage of Stonewall (seen here) but there’s more

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Matthew Pressman @mattpressman.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

100 years ago the New York Daily News hired arguably the most talented, most controversial editorial writer of all time. Reuben Maury wrote almost every editorial in America’s most-read newspaper from 1926 to 1972. His pieces were compulsively readable and often shockingly far right.

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Reposted by Matthew Pressman

Philip Leventhal @philipleventhal.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

"Invokes the power of a great 20th-century tabloid that “would tell it like it is without making a zoo out of it.” Great to see THE PEOPLE'S PAPER, by @mattpressman.bsky.social mentioned in @semafor.com! tinyurl.com/426d9mw6 @semaforben.bsky.social @columbiaup.bsky.social tinyurl.com/426d9mw6

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Matthew Pressman @mattpressman.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

A bit of newspaper history from 100 years ago: the NY Daily News becomes the first American daily to reach a circulation of 1 million readers -- the Marvelous Million, as this 1926 house ad called them

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Reposted by Matthew Pressman

Philip Leventhal @philipleventhal.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

"Like the Daily News itself in its heyday, THE PEOPLE'S PAPER is essential reading." --Nicole Hemmer Now available! Use the coupon code CUP20 and save 20% on THE PEOPLE'S PAPER, by Matthew Pressman! bit.ly/46Z8Vts @mattpressman.bsky.social @columbiaup.bsky.social

bit.ly

The People's Paper | Columbia University Press

When the New York Daily News launched in 1919, it didn’t just sell papers—it reinvented them. Brash, populist, and impossible to ignore, the United State... | CUP

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Matthew Pressman @mattpressman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Today's bit of newspaper history: NY Daily News photographer Tom Howard shows off the ankle camera he used to secretly capture the execution of Ruth Snyder in 1928. One of the most famous and controversial front pages of all time.

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Matthew Pressman @mattpressman.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Here's what the New York Daily News wrote (and drew) about President Truman in 1952. He did not ban the paper's reporters from the White House.

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Matthew Pressman @mattpressman.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The New York Times is taking a victory lap for its 175th anniversary, but did the mayor of NYC ever proclaim "New York Times Day"? Here's John Lindsay in 1969 declaring it "Daily News Day" on the paper's 50th birthday.

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Reposted by Matthew Pressman

Philip Leventhal @philipleventhal.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

"A roller-coaster ride through the highs and lows of what was once New York's and America's loudest, brashest, most bombastic trafficker in local news."--David Nasaw Now available! THE PEOPLE'S PAPER, by Matthew Pressman. bit.ly/46Z8Vts @mattpressman.bsky.social @columbiaup.bsky.social

bit.ly

The People's Paper | Columbia University Press

When the New York Daily News launched in 1919, it didn’t just sell papers—it reinvented them. Brash, populist, and impossible to ignore, the United State... | CUP

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Matthew Pressman @mattpressman.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Constitution Day is a good day for an appreciation of Theo Wilson, all-time great New York Daily News trial reporter and fierce 1st Amendment advocate in the free press vs. fair trial debate. She had the scoop on almost every major trial from the 1950s to the early 80s

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Reposted by Matthew Pressman

Philip Leventhal @philipleventhal.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

"Matthew Pressman’s sweeping history of—and elegy for—New York’s Daily News is a masterful work."--Jeff Jarvis Now available: THE PEOPLE'S PAPER, by Matthew Pressman. Use the coupon code CUP20 and save 20%! bit.ly/46Z8Vts @mattpressman.bsky.social @columbiaup.bsky.social

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Matthew Pressman @mattpressman.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

This letter to a pushy management consultant from New York Daily News publisher Joseph Medill Patterson in 1936 is 💯 "This is something you could not possibly know as much about as I do." I wish later generations of publishers had shown similar good sense

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Matthew Pressman @mattpressman.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I've got a whole playlist of songs about journalism but this one about the New York Daily News -- lampooning its right-wing editorial viewpoints in the 1960s -- is one of my favorites. Tom Paxton may not have liked it, but he was definitely a reader! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui-c...

youtube.com

Daily News

YouTube video by Tom Paxton - Topic

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Matthew Pressman @mattpressman.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Today's bit of newspaper history: this highly provocative 1965 cartoon in the NY Daily News, which had an extreme right-wing editorial page from the 1940s through the 1960s (and an extremely liberal one in the 1930s!)

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Matthew Pressman @mattpressman.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The press as a whole performed admirably on 9/11, but few if any were better than "New York's Hometown Paper," the Daily News. 105 reporters (listed below) and 36 photographers contributed to the 80 pages of incredible coverage in the next day's paper

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Matthew Pressman @mattpressman.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Feels like a good day for a lighter bit of NY Daily News history: this delightfully kitschy TV commercial from 1986 www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGPz...

youtube.com

80s Commercial | NY Daily News | 1986

YouTube video by STEVE HEROLD

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Matthew Pressman @mattpressman.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Especially relevant bit of NY Daily News history today: the explosive October 2001 cover story, A TOXIC NIGHTMARE AT DISASTER SITE, by Juan Gonzalez

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Matthew Pressman @mattpressman.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Today's bit of newspaper history: a 1976 house ad from the NY Daily News touting columnists Pete Hamill and Jimmy Breslin

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Matthew Pressman @mattpressman.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Today's bit of newspaper history, Labor Day edition: NY Daily News workers sing out during their epic 5-month strike in 1990-91

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Matthew Pressman @mattpressman.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

The most shameful episode in NY Daily News history was the anti-Semitism and occasional Nazi sympathies of its opinion pages during the WW2 era. Here’s a telegram from the paper’s top political columnist, John O’Donnell, proposing a pro-Nazi story just 10 days after Kristallnacht

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Matthew Pressman @mattpressman.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

The production process for a big newspaper in the days of hot type was a technological marvel that’s almost been lost to time. It’s explained wonderfully in these two little pieces...

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Matthew Pressman @mattpressman.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Calling all New Yorkers, history buffs, journalism enthusiasts! My book The People’s Paper: The Rise & Fall of the NY Daily News, comes out in one month! Every day between now and then I’ll post one of my favorite/most interesting finds (photos, archival documents, articles, cartoons). Up first...

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