Cleveland Gazette, the paper had clearly asserted its mission to be a political force for Black Americans in the midst of the 1883 Supreme Court decision that revered the 1975 Civil Rights Act. However, in 1896, the year of the Plessy vs. Ferguson “separate, but equal” decision, Smith sought a new strategy of using journalism for social change. By the mid-to-late 1890s, the explicit tone of Smith’s political voice faded, although Harry Smith’s integrationist stance never swayed. Instead, the newspaper paid more attention to general interests of local Black communities. By 1886, issues often featured front pages that contained "editorials" that criticized the Democratic Party, "trivia and facts" about remarkable African Americans, and articles about local and national news updates. At the time, social news, such as articles about "dinner parties" and "fashion tips," were reserved for later pages of the newspaper. Audience The Cleveland Gazette strove to reflect the values of "Cleveland [African-American] natives or longstanding residents," known as "old elites." Members of this population often intermingled with whites in public spaces and were known for being "well-educated and articulate." Cleveland's "old elites" represented merely a fraction of the 96,901 Ohio African Americans being targeted for subscription in the mid-1880s. At the end of July 1886, Smith announced that 3,500 copies of the newspaper were in "circulation," which was below the 5,000 goal. Content shifts Mid-1890s Political content in the newspaper decreased, and more social news began to appear on the front page in the early to mid-1890s. By 1896, the newspaper's name had been shortened to The Gazette. As Cleveland's African-American population continued to grow, The Gazette and other African-American newspapers began focusing on "shaping and especially reflecting the values of black communities." In a typical 1896 issue, the first two columns on the front page, which had contained information about remarkable black actions in 1883 issues, were "devoted to a weekly women's apparel column." Attempting to better represent African Americans, Smith was also replacing the term "Negro" with "Afro-American" by 1896. World War I After the turn of the century, The Gazette often changed its position about African-American migration to the North. Before and after World War I, the newspaper contained material that criticized the "behavior" of the migrants. During World War I, African Americans migrated to Northern cities to fill vacant factory jobs, and The Gazette lessened its criticism of the needed migrants. It was around