As the publisher and CEO of Afro-American Newspapers, Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper is both a news innovator and a steward of a Baltimore-based family legacy spanning 130 years.
“Like so many other publications, we are no longer just a newspaper. We are a media company,” Dr. Draper told E&P in July.
Draper’s great-grandfather, John Henry Murphy, started the newspaper 130 years ago with just $200 he borrowed from family members. He used the money to brand the company and to buy a printing press at auction.
The first issues of The Afro-American Ledger were just a single page, with the day’s most important news about what was happening around Baltimore and what local church groups were planning. Murphy grew the business to 200 employees and bought the building where the newspaper was produced.
