The Daily News was founded in 1846, aiming to provide a Liberal rival to the morning Conservative newspapers, most notably The Times . Like the leading provincial newspapers, the Daily News campaigned hard for reform. The opening editorial of the first issue claimed to advance the 'Principles of Progress and Improvement; of Education, civil and Religious Liberty, and Equal Legislation'.

The Daily News is famous for its founding editor, Charles Dickens, who remained in post for only twenty days, but continued to write occasional columns for the paper. The newspaper was initially commercially disastrous, with a failed attempt to halve the price to 21/2d, and then falling sales taking it to the brink of collapse. Nevertheless, circulation gradually recovered from 1849, and the gradual abolition of newspaper taxes allowed the price to be reduced to 1d in 1868. The News then gradually established itself as one of the most popular daily papers. Despite its early insecurity, the format and editorial style of the newspaper remained unusually stable, apart from increasing in size from eight to twelve pages in 1896. By the end of the century, it claimed to have 'the largest circulation of any Liberal Paper in the world', with circulation peaking at 93,000 copies in 1890 (Brown, Victorian news and newspapers, 1985, p.31).

The Daily News provided exceptional coverage of overseas news. Reports were sent to the London office by an extensive network of correspondents, many of whom were renowned literary or political figures, including Harriet Martineau, Douglas Jerrold, Sir Edward Strachey, and G.K.C. Chesterton. From the outset the founders also aimed to promote investment in railway companies, and commercial news remained a prominent feature. Regular columns of sporting, literary and weather reports were also included, but the focus of the paper remained the provision of serious news relating to national and international concerns.