In MSR’s 92nd year, publisher and CEO reflects on her grandfather’s legacy

Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder founder Cecil Newman and his granddaughter, current MSR CEO and Publisher Tracey Williams-Dillard, were both 8 years old when they became interested in journalism.

8-year-old Newman was the publisher of his school newspaper, an 8.5-by-11-inch sheet of paper. Williams-Dillard remembers accompanying her grandmother to the newsroom as a kid, using tape to make the lines dividing articles on a grid sheet in the front office.

Now MSR’s CEO and publisher, Williams-Dillard is carrying on the legacy her grandfather started, a commitment to Minnesota’s Black community, while leading the paper as its first publisher in the digital-first era.

A Founder’s Vision to Tell Untold Stories

Newman moved to Minneapolis from Kansas City, Missouri, in 1922 with the goal of starting a newspaper.

“That was his dream because he wanted to make change,” Williams-Dillard said.

“…Then as now, [the Black press was] telling stories that nobody else was telling, letting them [the Black community] know things that they needed to know that nobody else was telling them.”

After being refused jobs at mainstream papers, Newman wrote for the Black newspaper the Northwestern Bulletin and freelanced for notable Black publications like the Chicago Defender.

After serving as editor of the Minneapolis-based Black newspaper the Twin City Herald for seven years, Newman realized his dream of publishing his own paper. The first issues of the Minneapolis Spokesman and the St. Paul Recorder both came out Aug. 10, 1934.

“I didn’t have enough money to begin one newspaper, so I began two of them,” Newman told readers at the time, according to Williams-Dillard.

A Lifeline for Jobs, Housing, and Community Advocacy

Williams-Dillard said readers’ trust made the papers a foundational resource in the community. Newman’s publications paid attention to their often-underrepresented lives and were grounded in the community’s perspective. The Spokesman and the Recorder covered lighthearted stories such as socialites and clubs. They also fiercely advocated for their community’s needs and were committed to spreading otherwise withheld information.

The newspapers told the community about work and rental opportunities at a time when many places would not rent to Black people or want them to know about job openings. Pullman porters carried the newspapers with them on the train and handed them off at stops, spreading the information across the country.

“It was very important then that papers existed because there were a lot of things going on, opportunities that African Americans would have never known [about] had it not been for the Black press,” Williams-Dillard said.

Newman used not only his publications but his own words as a vehicle for change. In 1935, he wrote opinion pieces calling for a boycott of Hamm’s, Gluek’s and other Minnesota breweries that would not hire Black workers. He also published editorial cartoons ridiculing the brewers, according to the Minnesota Historical Society.

Nothing would have changed “had my grandfather not … kept writing about it,” Williams-Dillard said. “[He said,] ‘I’m going to keep talking about it and keep talking about it until change happens.'”

Honoring History While Adapting for the Digital Era

MSR has changed since then. Today, the paper honors more traditional journalistic standards compared to its activist roots and prioritizes solution-based news, according to Williams-Dillard. The Spokesman and the Recorder merged in 2000, and MSR has grown its online content. Through these changes, the paper has not lost its commitment to Minnesota’s Black community and its stories.

In 2015, the Minneapolis City Council designated the MSR building at 3744 4th Avenue South a historic landmark, citing its significance to the civil rights movement and its connection to Newman and photographer Gordon Parks, who got his start as a staff photographer there.

For instance, MSR recently covered the annual celebration Rondo Days, which Williams-Dillard said demonstrates the paper’s commitment to a neighborhood that wants its stories told.

MSR also writes about the work philanthropic organizations, local institutions and nonprofits do to serve the community, she said.

Generally, the paper focuses on holistic coverage of the Black community, from general gatherings to milestones of community impact to deeper issues affecting Black people in Minnesota.

It has also broadened its coverage to other underrepresented groups across the diaspora and beyond, acknowledging the connections between Minnesota’s diverse communities through events like Operation Metro Surge, for example.

“Seldom do I ever see anything written in other publications that highlight the work that the people do that we generally highlight,” Williams-Dillard said. “That’s our focus: to make sure we’re informing, inspiring and engaging our community.”

Truth-Telling and Fighting for Equity in Modern Media

In a world in which fake news and skewed stories about Black people abound, Williams-Dillard also sees the Black press as playing a crucial role in truth-telling. For example, when George Floyd was killed, community members and the Black press helped tell truthful stories that overrode the skewed narrative that Floyd died because of drugs in his system, she said.

Williams-Dillard sees MSR as facing struggles today similar to those in Newman’s era: corporate leaders and white people with money not investing in the Black press, organizations undervaluing Black consumers, and difficulty growing subscriber numbers. She pointed to the rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives under the current administration as one factor deepening those struggles.

MSR has stayed in Newman and Williams-Dillard’s family for its 92 years of existence and has never missed a day of publication, according to Williams-Dillard.

“Having a news source that’s been around for a long time, it carries a lot of responsibility and credibility,” said Lisa Hills, executive director of the Minnesota Newspaper Association and the Minnesota News Media Institute.

To Williams-Dillard, while it can feel daunting to run a paper that people can read online from anywhere in the world, it also feels rewarding to run her grandfather’s paper and support her community.

“I feel that the news we tell and the stories we cover are all for the better of our community,” Williams-Dillard said. “Knowing that what you’re doing, you hope creates a better outcome for people, is a very good feeling, and you feel like you’re doing good work that makes a difference.”

Join MSR on the water for the 92nd Anniversary Boat Cruise! Experience an unforgettable evening of community, music, networking, and celebrating Black media excellence in Minnesota.

About the Author:

Ella Stern is a contributing writer for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. She welcomes reader responses at erstern10@gmail.com.