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The Death of a Local Newspaper Rocks America to Its Core
Townhall.com ^ | August 13, 2019 | Salena Zito

Posted on 08/13/2019 5:21:52 AM PDT by Kaslin

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- When the press stops rolling at The Vindicator this month, a lingering question will once again taunt the residents of the Mahoning Valley: How much collapse can one region take?

The family-owned newspaper announced in June -- just days after celebrating its 150th anniversary -- that it is permanently ceasing production on Aug. 31. Started in 1869 just months after Ulysses S. Grant was sworn into office, it has been run by the descendants of William F. Maag ever since he purchased it midway through Grover Cleveland's first term.

The closure will cost 144 employees and 250 carriers their jobs and comes just weeks after the General Motors Lordstown plant down the road turned out the lights, leading to thousands of job losses.

It is one of a series of gut punches that has dented this area's spirit since the collapse of the steel industry in September 1977. But losing a local newspaper feels like a bigger blow than most.

"Newspapers are the watchdogs who hold our civic institutions accountable and act as a cheerleader for the unique fabrics in our society," Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tim Ryan, the congressman who represents this region, told The New York Post.

As a young high school football star, Ryan enjoyed glowing coverage in The Vindicator. And as an elected official, he has felt the sting of its criticism.

"We've had our share of tensions, and they certainly have held me accountable, but that is their job -- to be that check on government -- and I cannot imagine our community without them," he said.

Closures like The Vindicator's are sadly more common than ever across the country, as old-school newsrooms struggle to compete with digital operations that aggregate web content but lack editorial oversight or seasoned reporters who have a deep understanding of their local area.

In the past 15 years, the country has lost 1,800 local news organizations, according to a report by the University of North Carolina Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media. Half of the country's 3,143 counties have just one newspaper to cover sprawling, often isolated territories, while nearly 200 counties have no newspaper at all, the report said.

"A local newspaper is to a community what a central nervous system is to a body," said Paul Sracic, a political science professor at Youngstown State University. "Like the nerves in our body, the newspaper transmits vital and non-vital information throughout the community."

And without that, it's very difficult for a community to maintain its sense of self.

At the local school, Becky Ford has used The Vindicator (formerly known as The Youngstown Vindicator) as a resource for the American history and social studies classes she teaches. She also relies on it to stay connected with her community. "For us, it was like our New York Times," Ford said. "Sports, features, local social clubs, volunteer activities, class reunions ... you name it, they did it. If you called The Vindicator and asked (them) to be at your event, they were at your event taking pictures."

High school athletes, in particular, will suffer from a lack of coverage, said Rick Shepas, athletic director of Youngstown city schools.

It will be "devastating for the kids and their families not to have The Vindicator write those daily articles about the student-athlete's accomplishments both on and off the field," he said.

After 150 years of chronicling the Ohio Valley, beginning with the Reconstruction and followed by the Industrial Revolution, two World Wars, a Great Depression, civil rights, a moon landing, the Vietnam War, Watergate, 9/11 and the rise of populism, it is hard to believe that The Vindicator is no more.

Although the internet is a great source of information, the virtual communities that exist on sites like Reddit aren't local or even identifiable.

Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown worries that the disruption caused by the paper's closure won't stop at the city line.

"This is a problem for our whole country," Brown said. "Communities suffer when local journalism closes up shop, and we lose our vitality and connection to each other when that door closes for the last time."

He adds, "The bigger problem is: How are we going to stop those doors from closing here -- or anywhere?"


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: freespeech; newspapers; pennsylvania; theend
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To: JacksonCalhoun

It has nothing to do with slant one way or the other, or up the middle....

Newspapers are and have been dying for decades...

Regardless of their reporting style or accuracy.

Craigslist killed the local newspaper, taking away one of the most consistent revenue streams, that they could and did gouge blindly for, and did. Not to mention the LEGALLY REQUIRED publications of notices that were also being gouged.


21 posted on 08/13/2019 5:45:04 AM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: Kaslin

I wouldn’t be surprised if Leftist cause then end of TV news as well.

That crap is soul poison.


22 posted on 08/13/2019 5:46:03 AM PDT by chris37 (Monday, March 25 2019 is Maga Day!)
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To: Kaslin

I get the Sunday paper for the comics, coupons, & the crossword puzzles.

Just out of habit - I suppose I could get them all online too - but there’s something nostalgic about Sunday morning newspaper browsing.

Other than that, wouldn’t miss it a bit.

I notice on the crossword puzzle pages all the ads are for hearing aids, assisted living facilities, etc. - IOW, we’re a dying breed.


23 posted on 08/13/2019 5:46:09 AM PDT by P.O.E. (Pray for America)
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To: tomkat

Call it ‘trickle down disgust’.

What a great observation.


24 posted on 08/13/2019 5:47:54 AM PDT by penguinhunter
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To: chris37
I wouldn’t be surprised if Leftist cause then end of TV news as well. That crap is soul poison.

Let's be serious, does anyone actually thing that Fake News Fredo is putting out a product people want?

25 posted on 08/13/2019 5:48:18 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: Kaslin

News Papers are obsolete.

My wife reads the local paper on line but the paper is struggling to continue. The ad revenue apparently doesn’t support the change.

They discontinued Sunday only and thus lost me. Remaining readers are mostly old and do not buy stuff.


26 posted on 08/13/2019 5:51:49 AM PDT by bert ( (KE. NP. N.btyC. +12) Progressives are existential American enemies)
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To: Kaslin

I used to get daily delivery of our local paper for years. I finally cancelled it when I just couldn’t stand the liberal propagand no more. That was more than a year ago.


27 posted on 08/13/2019 5:57:03 AM PDT by TianaHighrider (God bless our men with the bravery to be men.)
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To: Kaslin

This from Salena Zito? Hyperbole to the max, sheesh. Not everything that is, mustt always be. Just like it’s a good thing we don’t wipe our butts with corn cobs anymore.


28 posted on 08/13/2019 5:58:40 AM PDT by KobraKai
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To: workerbee

Tim Ryan is your typical Ohio Democrat - lowlife socialist scum.


29 posted on 08/13/2019 6:03:29 AM PDT by ohioman
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To: Kaslin

“The Death of a Local Newspaper Rocks America to Its Core”

Still waiting to be rocked.

Truth is, I’ll be no more rocked on August 31st than I was on the day I discontinued the Charlotte Observer a couple of decades ago...the day after the parakeet died.


30 posted on 08/13/2019 6:05:45 AM PDT by moovova
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To: from occupied ga

Apparently some liked its coverage of social events.


31 posted on 08/13/2019 6:05:46 AM PDT by Lisbon1940 (No full-term Governors (at the time of election))
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To: Kaslin
Just some thoughts....

There is hardly a need to have breaking news fed hourly/daily... News the next day or few days is fine mostly.... You need to Read, and think about it.

Ive almost never gave weight to: must have it!-right now dammit!! news feeding. That's a TV junkie mentality of being used to being on someone elses agenda-schedule.

Newspapers are just another thing that Dems have ruined in this country.

Newspapers are needed. Period. Just not needed with the current Leftists owners & editors.

Some interesting factoids:

KCMO pop, <500, K

KC metro area pop. >2.1 Mil.

Rapid City,SD Pop, <75, K

RC metro area pop. <150, K

Monday papers similar in size.

Sunday paper, the RC Journal slightly LARGER than the KCStar.....

KCStar owned by McClatchy Corp. RC Journal owned by Lee Enterprises

32 posted on 08/13/2019 6:07:05 AM PDT by urtax$@work (The only kind of memorial is a Burning memorial !)
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To: Kaslin

The author of this article is a newspaper reporter.


33 posted on 08/13/2019 6:07:25 AM PDT by Lisbon1940 (No full-term Governors (at the time of election))
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To: Kaslin

They have the journalism schools to thank for the demise of newspapers. TV news will be next. Our grandchildren never watch television. They are on their computers/phones.


34 posted on 08/13/2019 6:07:31 AM PDT by txrefugee
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To: Kaslin

I like reading a newspaper.

The newspaper in my little city is owned by a corporation that owns almost all the newspapers in the cities in this state.

They are pro Democrat and run the same stories in all their newspapers.

I called a reporter with a story proving a Democrat politician was lying.

Her response,

“So what.”

No more newspaper for me.


35 posted on 08/13/2019 6:10:35 AM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: Kaslin

Be GLAD that is merely closing and NOT being swallowed up by the highly liberal Gannett group!


36 posted on 08/13/2019 6:11:33 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: VanDeKoik

You must live in Indianapolis!


37 posted on 08/13/2019 6:12:31 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: central_va

Even the local ones did.


38 posted on 08/13/2019 6:13:25 AM PDT by qaz123
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To: Kaslin

The Trump curse takes out another left wing fakenews fishwrap.

Thanks for the good news to start another day.


39 posted on 08/13/2019 6:13:49 AM PDT by Grampa Dave ( Here's the Formula: Hatred + Government + Disarmed Civilians = Genocide !)
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To: bert

#metoo


40 posted on 08/13/2019 6:14:44 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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