“Being a family operation, you tend to get close to your people … you make decisions you know are contrary to the correct business decision.”
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio
Mark Brown apologized for being late for an interview at his downtown office.
For weeks, the general manager of the Youngstown Vindicator had been working 12- to 14-hour days — typically starting in early afternoon and finishing at 3 or 4 the next morning.
“There have just been a lot of hours … and [this morning] I just crashed,” said Mr. Brown, 60, whose family has owned the Vindicator for generations.
![](https://i0.wp.com/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/20190825smsYoungstown21.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Mark Brown, 60, of Boardman, Ohio, general manager of The Vindicator, looks up to the paper’s printing press on Friday, Aug. 2, 2019, in Youngstown, Ohio. (Stephanie Strasburg/Post-Gazette)
In late June, Mr. Brown had gathered the staff of the 150-year-old daily to deliver the grim news that the Vindicator would publish its last edition Saturday — both in print and online.
Since that announcement, Ogden Newspapers, which publishes the daily Tribune Chronicle in neighboring Trumbull County, struck a deal to buy the Vindicator name, subscriber list and website domain, vindy.com, for a new Mahoning County edition.
Ogden — whose chief executive Bob Nutting also owns the Pittsburgh Pirates — said it will add reporters to cover Youngstown news and sports and will carry the Vindicator’s comics and local obituaries.
For over 150 years The Vindicator served as the daily newspaper for the Youngstown, Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana regions. On Aug. 31st the paper will close. (Jessie Wardarski/Post-Gazette)
The Vindicator’s independent carriers will deliver the paper to current subscribers, who will have a chance to renew subscriptions when they expire.
Still, the existing Vindicator planned to publish a special final edition Saturday.
“We clearly still feel like we are dying,” said Mr. Brown.
Because the Vindicator’s 140-plus employees are being laid off and its plant is closing, he’s been negotiating severance agreements with the paper’s union employees, exploring the sale of its buildings and determining whether the printing presses will be sold for scrap.
A warning siren
More than a decade ago, Mr. Brown realized the Vindicator needed to make dramatic changes to survive.
As the Great Recession hit, the emergence of digital news sites was already ravaging newspaper advertising and circulation revenue.
To attract printing jobs from other publishers, he invested $12 million in refurbished presses. But there were delays in installing the equipment, and potential customers went elsewhere.
The paper also held the line on employee raises, cut payroll through attrition, reduced its page counts and raised its price. But nothing could stop the bleeding; the publication had lost money in 20 of the past 22 years.
After two prospective buyers backed out, Mr. Brown in March began meeting with department heads to consider last-ditch moves, such as reducing print days, going all-digital or slashing employment “to the bone” — a move, as a family operation, he wanted to avoid, he said.