The Chicago Daily News was an afternoon newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois which published between 1876 and 1978.

The paper was founded by Melville E. Stone in 1875 and began publishing early the next year. It strove for mass readership in contrast with its primary competitor, the Chicago Tribune, which was more influential among the city's elites; for many years, the Daily News boasted a 1¢ newsstand price.

The Chicago Daily News pioneered certain areas of reporting, opening one of the first foreign bureaus among U.S. newspapers in 1898 and starting one of the first columns devoted to radio in 1922. It was known for its distinctive, aggressive writing style which 1920s editor Henry Justin Smith likened to a daily novel. In its heydey from the 1930s to 1950s it was widely syndicated.

In 1929 it moved into a new 26-floor headquarters building at 400 W Madison Street. Designed by architects Holabird & Root, the Art Deco structure became a Chicago landmark, and stands today under the name Riverside Plaza . It featured a mural by John W. Norton depicting the newspaper production process.

After a long period of ownership by Knight Newspapers (later Knight-Ridder), the paper was acquired in 1959 by Field Enterprises, owner of the Marshall Field and Company department store chain and the rival Chicago Sun-Times. Thereafter the newspaper entered a decline partly due to mismanagement but also due to demographic changes. Sales of afternoon dailies declined with the rise of television, and downtown newspapers suffered as readers moved to the suburbs.

The Chicago Daily News published its last edition on March 4, 1978.

Pulitzer Prizes

The Chicago Daily News was awarded the Pulitzer Prize thirteen times.

• 1925 Reporting
• 1929 Correspondence
• 1933 Correspondence
• 1938 Editorial Cartooning
• 1943 Reporting
• 1947 Editorial Cartooning
• 1951 International Reporting
• 1957 Meritorious Public Service
• 1950 Meritorious Public Service
• 1963 Meritorious Public Service
• 1969 Editorial Cartooning
• 1970 National Reporting
• 1972 Commentary

External links

• Littlewood, Tom. "Elegy for the Daily News," Illinois Issues No. 33, April 1978