Franklin, a digital reporter with National Public Radio (NPR) in Washington, D.C., is one of 20 journalists selected for the fellowship, which allows reporters to discuss politics and policy with regulators, lawmakers, experts and other respected journalists.
“One of the main things that I learned at Wofford and Georgetown is that the answer might be in front of you, but do more investigating and think outside of the box,” says Franklin, who earned a master’s degree in journalism at Georgetown University.
Franklin worked for a CBS affiliate in Washington before joining NPR in the summer of 2021. NPR announced his hiring by touting his ability to craft engaging ledes (the introductory paragraph of a story) and “well-calibrated anecdotes that center the individuals and communities in service of the journalism he’s pursuing.”
Franklin intends to use the insight he’ll gain during the fellowship to make complex subjects more understandable to readers.
“When doing my storytelling process, whether it’s for radio or print, I think about how I would explain it to my grandmother,” Franklin says.
Franklin often finds stories and sources by monitoring social media. He wrote one of the stories that he’s proudest of after seeing a Facebook post about a woman collecting posters, signs and artwork left at a fence dubbed “The Black Lives Matter Fence” near the White House.
He met the woman at a storage unit where she had more than 700 items. She realized the items represented part of the nation’s history and started to collect the items and guard the fence, along with others, to prevent vandalism. She established relationships with the Baltimore and Washington public libraries to begin having items digitally archived.
After the story aired, Franklin received calls from a university and museums, including the National Civil Rights Museum, wanting to connect with the woman to discuss exhibits and the preservation of the items.
“That’s the sort of impact I want to have,” Franklin says.
By Dudley Brown