The Call (Kansas City) - Franklin's Vision

Franklin's Vision

C.A. Franklin’s vision was to have a paper free of sensationalism that empowered and gave a voice to the black community. Franklin was a strong advocate for self-reliance within the community, siding strongly with the philosophies of W.E.B. Dubois. The Call includes announcements like graduations and graduates, deaths, memorials, and community events within surrounding areas as Franklin was encouraging of his readers to inform him of any goings-on and they would be published in the paper. This gave the black community a sense of importance as well as participation. There are also plenty of advertisements for black businesses, encouraging people to patronize only places where they are welcome. Local and national news editorials are featured, stories that the white press would either ignore or report on with bias. Police reports and crimes are included, something that briefly caused an uproar among some readers who were sick of reading only negative aspects of the African American community. The Call received letters urging these stories to be replaced with more positive ones. Franklin’s response to this was that “the press is to publish, not suppress news…”. There was a strong religious aspect associated within The Call, something that is still present in current issues. There are features and advertisements for pastors and church events and potlucks, as these serve as an important part of uniting the community and focusing on positive aspects.