A newspaper is a publication that contains articles reporting on current events, often with photographs. Most newspapers include a section called “opinions” where writers, known as columnists, express personal opinions about public issues, and offer analysis and synthesis of news stories. A newspaper can also contain other sections, such as sports, entertainment, or business. In addition to the regular daily edition, most papers produce special issues and supplements on weekends.
A typical newspaper is printed on paper with multiple sides and folded into a rectangular shape. Each page is numbered using a prefix, such as A, B, C, or D, which corresponds to a different range of pages (for example, A1-A20, B1-B20, and so on). In the past, most newspapers used ink on laid paper, but today most use digital inkjet printing. A few papers still publish in the traditional style.
In the United States, a newspaper is usually published once or twice a day and distributed free of charge. It has many contributors, including reporters who gather facts and write articles about them. Some reporters focus on a particular subject area, such as sports or religion, and are known as beat journalists. Other journalists who write long, non-news oriented articles are known as feature writers. Photographers and graphic artists provide illustrations to support articles. Editors review and edit the work of others and decide when to publish it.
Historically, the most popular dailies in the United States have focused on political scandals and intrigue, such as the Teapot Dome scandal and Wallis Simpson’s romance with King Edward VIII that led to his abdication. In the 1920s, the New York Daily News found abundant subject matter in the city’s politics and culture, and it grew to be the largest newspaper in the world with a staff of more than 10,000.
The Daily News was bought out of bankruptcy in 1993 by Mortimer Zuckerman, who later sold it to Tribune Publishing, now Tronc, for $1 in 2017. Since then, the newspaper’s circulation has fallen and it has been struggling to maintain profitability. In 2017, it announced it would cut jobs and halt a pay increase for journalists, who had begun campaigns to ask local benefactors to help save the paper.
NBC’s Gadi Schwartz takes a look back at how the era of streaming and Blockbuster took away local video stores, but one beloved institution, “Vidiots,” has returned with an innovative approach. This week’s Sunday Spotlight pays tribute to Holocaust survivor Ben Helfgott, who dedicated his life to helping other survivors and keeping their memories alive. He died this week at the age of 93. Read more here.