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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Fernando Cluster underwent emergency surgery in September 2022 at Emory University Hospital Midtown to relieve bleeding in his brain, which required part of his skull to be removed. -
Mitchell's family and attorneys said a settlement was reached with the operator of a Milwaukee hotel where he was detained by security guards. The attorneys declined to disclose the settlement amount. -
The packages, which were discovered along two beaches in Florida, are reported to have weighed over 100 pounds in total with an estimated street value of over $1 million, authorities said. -
In a news conference, attorneys representing the 23-year-old airman's family expressed concern that the investigation into his May shooting death is taking longer than expected. -
Five people, including two California doctors, have been charged in connection with the 2023 death of the Friends actor, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. -
The agency announced it is launching a new alert system similar to Amber Alerts for missing children. California and some other states have already adopted alerts for missing Indigenous persons. -
In a statement to NPR, Delta acknowledged the Department of Transportation’s notice and said the airline is "fully cooperating" with the investigation. -
As of Monday afternoon, the Atlanta-based airline has canceled more than 800 flights and delayed roughly 1,400 flights, according to FlightAware. -
The FDA's proposed rule would take a large step in shedding light on the potential harm that formaldehyde can cause to the many Black women who typically use hair straightening products. -
The former NFL player says the “traumatizing experience” took place when the plane landed on Saturday. He says six FBI and other law enforcement agents boarded the plane and placed him in handcuffs.
