New Owners: NY Daily News To Keep The Tabloid’s DNA

The new owners of the NY Daily News pledged Tuesday to retain the DNA of the venerable tabloid as they seek to expand its rapidly growing digital footprint.

In a town hall-style meeting with staffers, the top leaders of tronc, a Chicago-based media company, trumpeted their acquisition of The News.

Michael Ferro

“I’m very excited that we get to take on stewardship of this great brand,” said tronc Chairman Michael W. Ferro.

With the addition of The News, tronc now owns a major newspaper in America’s three largest markets — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The company’s stable of newspapers includes the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Orlando Sentinel and the Hartford Courant.  Rounding out the list are the Sun-Sentinel in Florida, The Morning Call in Allentown, Pa., the Daily Press in Newport News, Va., and The San Diego Union-Tribune.

The News, with its 24 million unique visitors online per month, brings the total count among tronc sites to 80 million.

“The Daily News’ digital audience is tremendous,” said tronc President Tim Knight. “It’s both New York and national, so it gives us a lot of flexibility.”

Knight added that he believes the The News “must continue to do what’s in its DNA.”

“The Daily News essentially established tabloid journalism in the United States,” Knight said. “And it built its audience for nearly the last 100 years doing the kind of content that many people in New York love reading.”