For the first time in its 107-year history, The Call, Kansas City’s oldest and without a doubt most cherished Black-owned newspaper, did not publish this week — and the possibility that it will publish again in the near future appears grim.
“It has not officially shut down, but it did not print this week, no, and the future is very unclear,” said Tracy Allen, who has been editor in chief at the paper since 2023. Allen, who had been a writer and editor at the paper for many years before retiring in 2017, came out of retirement to lead its editorial operation three years ago.
“The problem is financial and not editorial,” Allen said. “I feel very proud of what I was trying to do editorially,” she said, explaining that she was working on incorporating social media platforms and podcasting into the newspaper’s portfolio…