Jonathan Franklin
Jonathan Franklin is a digital reporter on the News desk covering general assignment and breaking national news.
For the last few years, Franklin has been reporting and covering a broad spectrum of local and national news in the nation's capital. Prior to NPR, he served as a digital multiskilled journalist for the TEGNA-owned CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C., WUSA. While at WUSA, Franklin covered and reported on some of the major stories over the last two years – the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the Black/African American community, D.C.'s racial protests and demonstrations following the death of George Floyd, the 2020 presidential election and the January 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.
A scan of Franklin's byline will find hundreds of local breaking news stories, engaging ledes and well-calibrated anecdotes that center the individuals and communities in service of the journalism he's pursuing.
Prior to WUSA, Jonathan produced and reported for various ABC and CW affiliates across the country and was a freelance multimedia journalist for The Washington Informer in Washington, D.C. He began his journalism career at WDCW in Washington.
A native of Columbia, South Carolina, Franklin earned his master's degree in journalism with an emphasis in broadcast and digital journalism from Georgetown University and his undergraduate degrees in English, Humanities and African/African American Studies from Wofford College.
Franklin is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., both the National and Washington Associations of Black Journalists, Online News Association, and the Society of Professional Journalists.
In his spare time, Franklin enjoys traveling to new cities and countries, watching movies, reading a good novel, and all alongside his favorite pastime: brunch.
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Joe Armstrong, owner of WJBE 99.7 FM, says the FCC is threatening to revoke his broadcast license over his conviction for a tax crime — one that occurred years before he took ownership of the station.
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Target, The North Face, Bud Light and others are facing backlash for pro-LGBTQ+ campaigns. Some have stood fast, others stumbled. Experts say consistency and intentionality are key to true support.
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The Snow Forest by the author of Eat, Pray, Love was set to be released in February 2024, exactly two years after Russia invaded Ukraine. The backlash included hundreds of negative GoodReads reviews.
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The German firm is selling shoes created with Ye (formerly Kanye West) before his antisemitic remarks led to termination of the deal in October. Some of the proceeds will go to anti-racism nonprofits.
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Julie Mabry, who opened Pearl Bar in 2013, said the bar was created to provide a safe space for those in Houston's LGBTQ+ community.
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One of the options Adidas considered was to destroy the Ye-designed shoes, but the company ultimately decided against it, the CEO said. Instead it will sell them and donate the proceeds to charity.
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Ireland-based artist Pan Cooke creates cartoons summarizing the world's daily news in comics, highlighting how prevalent police brutality and hate crimes are across the U.S.
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The late 29-year-old Sacramento native will be posthumously honored with a bronze plaque that will be installed at the newly renamed park.
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The title of the city's monument was inspired by Robert Hayden's 1962 poem entitled "Runagate Runagate," which references Tubman.
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Eric R. Holder Jr. will likely remain in jail for the rest of his life for the murder of Nipsey Hussle, a beloved figure in south LA who was killed in 2019 outside his clothing store.