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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A year after Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow met, both of their spouses and two of Vallow's children were dead. On Saturday, Daybell was handed down the death penalty in the murders of the children and his first wife. -
Neither passenger knew each other, nor were they seated together on the Jan. 5 flight from Phoenix to New York. A lawsuit alleges they were removed from the flight after a complaint about body odor. -
The 59-year-old says her decision to donate $1 billion was in part due to the racial gap in women's mortality rates. She most recently stepped down as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. -
Four plaintiffs in Florida say Hershey falsely represented several Reese's Peanut Butter products by showing "explicit carved-out artistic designs" on the wrappers being sold. -
Roger Fortson, a 23-year-old senior airman, was shot and killed at his apartment by a deputy this month. Lawyers for the family dispute the sheriff's office claim of self-defense. -
In a statement to NPR, a spokesperson for the retail giant says it is committed to supporting the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not only during the month of June. -
French Gates says she is "immensely proud" of the work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the decision to step down as co-chair was not easy. Her last day is June 7.
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It is unclear why the suggested rule was not released by its intended deadline. But a spokesperson for the federal agency told NPR that its implementation "continues to be a high priority." -
The bill which was previously passed in the House in 2019 and 2022 but blocked in the Senate, aims to end race-based hair discrimination in schools and workplaces. -
Twyla Stallworth, a woman from Andalusia, Ala., filed a federal lawsuit against the city, its police department and Grant Barton, the police officer involved in the incident.
