New York World

New York World, daily newspaper published in New York City from 1860 to 1931, a colorful and vocal influence in American journalism in its various manifestations under different owners. It was also the first newspaper to publish a crossword puzzle.

The World was established in 1860 as a penny paper with a basically religious orientation. It supported President Abraham Lincoln’s prosecution of the American Civil War and his other policies, but it lost money, was sold to a consortium of New York City Democrats, and abruptly turned on Lincoln after the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863. The paper was shut down by federal authorities for two days in 1864 for publishing a fabricated report indicating that the North would draft 400,000 more men for the Union armies. In 1868 the paper published a statistical and historical annual, the World Almanac. Its publication continues to this day.

The World is most closely associated with publisher Joseph Pulitzer, who purchased the newspaper in 1883. Its coverage became increasingly flamboyant—particularly its Sunday edition under the editorship of Arthur Brisbane. When William Randolph Hearst bought the competing New York Journal in 1895, he lured Pulitzer’s celebrated Sunday newspaper staff to the Journal with the promise of raises; all but one secretary accepted Hearst’s offer. Pulitzer lured them back to the World with raises of his own, but then Hearst made a counteroffer, causing many to return to the Journal. (It was said that the sidewalk between the two newspapers was growing thin.)

Rivalry between the two newspapers—especially when both published cartoons based on the “Yellow Kid” character in Richard Felton Outcault’s comics—gave rise to the term yellow journalism. It was an era marked by publicity stunts, screaming headlines, and sensationalism as the newspapers competed for readers, staff, advertisers, and public attention. The World played a major role in whipping up the jingoistic spirit that led the United States into the Spanish-American War.

On the eve of the start of World War I, the World once again became a publishing innovator. Seeking a way to engage readers and perhaps provide a diversion to grim headlines, editor Arthur Wynne came up with a “mental exercise,” a puzzle that he dubbed Word-Cross. It was first published on December 21, 1913. A type-setting error subsequently turned that into crossword and a national and international craze was born.

The World was known for its numerous outstanding reporters, columnists, editors, and cartoonists. By 1930 the paper’s circulation had declined after a price increase, and heavy losses induced Pulitzer’s son, Joseph Pulitzer II, to sell the paper to the Scripps-Howard chain. In 1931 the World was combined with the New York Evening Telegram (founded 1867) to become the New York World-Telegram. The latter lasted until 1966; another merger creation, the New York World-Journal-Tribune, lasted less than a year, closing in 1967.