Outlet profile

The Charlotte Post

U.S. center-left (Black community press)

Owned byPrivately owned by the Johnson family through Charlotte Post Publishing Co. / Consolidated Media Group. Bill Johnson bought it in 1974. Brothers Gerald Johnson (CEO and publisher) and Bob Johnson (co-publisher, died at 84) later ran it.

FundingMainly local and regional advertising, legal and public notices, subscriptions and events such as an annual banquet. It has no billionaire or state backer. The details of its finances are not public.

On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

The Charlotte Post says it was founded in 1878, which would make it one of the longest-running Black newspapers in the United States. It is a weekly community paper serving Charlotte's African American community. Bill Johnson, a journalist who learned the trade in the Army during World War II, bought it in 1974. His son Gerald Johnson became CEO and publisher in 1986, when Bill was ill with leukemia, and also became chairman of Consolidated Media Group. Gerald and his brother Bob co-published the paper, which has grown into a media company with editions in two of North Carolina's largest markets, plus websites, social media, audio and video. The paper marked 50 years of Johnson family ownership in 2024. As part of the Black press tradition, it emphasizes civil rights, education, local politics and coverage that mainstream outlets often under-report. I did not find major documented controversies. Its perspective is advocacy-minded and center-left, though it also runs straight local news. My searches did not retrieve its recent coverage of the second Trump administration, so that rating is an inference.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-10-27; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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