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THE CALL’s editor reflects on eventful career

Eric Wesson, THE CALL
Posted at 2:00 PM, Feb 26, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-26 15:00:41-05

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Eric L. Wesson Sr., publisher and editor of THE CALL, told 41 Action News about his favorite moment while being a journalist.

Wesson's story about a run-in with President Barack Obama is below.

“My favorite article was President Obama. President Obama came to town with a fundraiser for Claire McCaskill when she was running for the Senate.

"We all went into a room with Associated Press writers and some other individuals and when we got in the room they said, 'Okay, don't ask him if he's running for president.'

"And he had probably, the next week after that, he announced that he was running for president. So I figured, our paper was coming out the day before he was to announce it, this would be breaking news.

"When he walked in the room, he sat down and shook everybody's hand, and he said, 'Okay, what are your questions?'

"So I raised my hand and he said, 'Yes, sir.'

"I said, 'Are you running for president?'

"He laughed and he said, 'Didn't they tell y'all don't ask me that when I came in?'

"I said, 'Well, you know.'

"He laughed and he said, 'You're gonna be a great reporter. You have to be able to take a step ahead.'

And from that point on, I even got press credentials to the White House for asking that question because he'd remembered me after he won.

After he won and when I would go to the Congressional Black Caucus meetings, we would bump into each other and he said that's that reporter that doesn't know how to follow directions.