The Youngstown Press Club recognizes excellent work in journalism, media and communications through awards that honor those with distinguished careers in the media through its Hall of Fame, those who are currently doing exemplary work in the media through the Excellence in Media Award, those who have defended the freedoms in the First Amendment through the First Amendment Award, and press club members who have made significant contributions to the club through the Medal of Merit.
Awards will be presented at the Hall of Fame and Awards Dinner on Wed., Sept. 23, 2026, at Stambaugh Auditorium.
Eight media professionals to join Youngstown Press Club Hall of Fame
Simeon Booker
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Helen Hart Hurlbert
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Warren P. Williamson Jr.
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Ralph R. "Boots" Bell
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Carolyn Martindale
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Mark Niquette
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Dan O'Brien
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Bob Yosay
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Eight prominent communicators, including three media pioneers, will join the Youngstown Press Club Hall of Fame this year.
Simeon Booker, who was best known for his courageous coverage of the civil rights movement; Helen Hart Hurlbert, who was publisher of the Warren Tribune Chronicle; and Warren P. Williamson Jr., who founded WKBN radio 100 years ago and was a nationally known radio pioneer; will be inducted in the newly established media pioneers category.
The other inductees will be: Boots Bell, the disc jockey, whose voice and personality dominated WHOT radio from 1959 to 1975; Carolyn Martindale, who directed Youngstown State University's journalism program for 23 years; Mark Niquette, who has been a Bloomberg News reporter for the past 15 years; Dan O'Brien, managing editor of the Business Journal; and Bob Yosay, retired chief photographer at The Vindicator.
“We’re proud to announce the 2026 Hall of Fame inductees,” said Elise Skolnick, president of the Youngstown Press Club. “These eight individuals represent the best of their fields. They dedicated their careers to keeping our region informed and connected, helping fill a critical need in our community.”
All will be inducted at the press club's Hall of Fame and Awards Dinner at 5 p.m. Sept. 23 at Stambaugh Auditorium.
Simeon Booker
Growing up in Youngstown, Booker's first publication was a four-line poem in The Vindicator. In high school, he was sports editor of the Buckeye Review, Youngstown's small Black weekly.
Booker reported for the Baltimore Afro American and the Cleveland Call and Post before winning a Harvard Neiman Fellowship and becoming the first black reporter at The Washington Post.
He was also a syndicated radio commentator for Westinghouse Broadcasting.
As Washington bureau chief and White House correspondent for Jet and Ebony magazines for more than 50 years, he became known as the "Dean of the Black Press."
His coverage of the 1955 murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Mississippi and the subsequent trial are among the most famous pieces of civil rights era journalism.
Booker, who died in 2017 at the age of 99, is the author of "Shocking the Conscience: A Reporter's Account of the Civil Rights Movement," published in 2013 by the University of Mississippi Press. Booker received an honorary doctorate degree from Youngstown State University in 2013.
The Simeon Booker Award for Courage has been given annually since 2016 during Ohio Nonviolence Week in Youngstown.
Helen Hart Hurlbert
For more than half a century, Hurlbert was one of the few female executives in a male-dominated Mahoning Valley media landscape.
Having become publisher of the Warren Tribune Chronicle in 1936, she shaped not only one of Ohio's oldest daily newspapers, but also the civic identity of an entire region through eras of prosperity, upheaval and transformation.
She inherited the publisher's chair from her mother, Zell Hart Deming, one of the country's earliest female newspaper executives.
Hurlbert modernized the newspaper's operations, expanded its reporting capacity and maintained its independence, using it to promote economic development, public welfare and community institutions.
In 1952, she became a cross-platform media executive when she bought WRRN radio and changed its call letters to WHHH to match her initials.
In acquiring the radio station, she extended the newspaper's civic mission onto the airwaves by providing local news, public service programming and community bulletins.
In 1979, Hurlbert retired with the title of publisher, as her daughter, Zell Draz, became the newspaper's associate publisher.
Hurlbert died in 1987 at the age of 94.
Warren P. Williamson Jr.
Williamson, who became founder and chairman of WKBN Broadcasting Corp., cultivated his interest in radio as a 17-year-old wireless operator with the Army Signal Corps, who was stationed in Texas near the Mexican border during World War I.
Thinking that establishing a radio station would help a radio repair business he was engaged in, Williamson founded the Mahoning Valley's first radio station - WKBN, whose first broadcast emanated from his Auburndale Avenue house on Sept. 26, 1926.
The station established a studio at the Youngstown YMCA by the following year and moved to its Sunset Boulevard building in 1952.
WKBN established the Valley's first FM station in 1947.
WKBN-TV - the Valley's first television station - began transmitting in 1953, and became the first Youngstown station to use videotape in 1959. Color TV broadcasting began there in 1965.
Williamson served for 27 years on the Youngstown Board of Education and was a member and director of the South Side Merchants and Civic Association.
Aside from being a civic leader, he was also a generous philanthropist, donating $1.9 million to Youngstown State University, whose business college is named in his honor. The university bestowed an honorary doctorate on him in 1990.
Williamson died in 1996 at the age of 96.
In 2006, his family gave YSU an additional $5 million for construction of a new building for the university's business college.
Boots Bell
Ralph R. Bell, known on the air as Boots Bell, was born in Cleveland in 1933 and was a disabled veteran of the Korean War.
His first radio job was at WBUZ - a small station in western New York. When Myron Jones, WHOT's co-founder, heard Bell, he recommended him for a job at WHOT.
There, as a member of a group of disc jockeys known as "The Good Guys," Bell appeared at numerous remote broadcasts. WHOT Day, where fledgling bands performed, was a highlight at Idora Park each summer.
Bell's upbeat personality and larger-than-life persona enabled him to move into TV as well in the mid-1960s. He was the host of "Dance Party" and a talk show titled "What Generation Gap?," both on WYTV Channel 33.
Besides WHOT, Bell had stints on other Mahoning Valley radio stations, including WGFT and WNIO, and helped start CD-106 - The Wolf.
In the mid-1970s, he began teaching broadcasting and advertising at Youngstown State University, where his classes became so popular that students not enrolled in them would listen in from the hallway.
Bell died in July 1993.
Carolyn Martindale
Martindale received bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from Kent State University, and, early in her career, worked in communications roles with the United Presbyterian Church and the New York State Public Affairs Committee.
She was a general assignment reporter and an entertainment writer at The Youngstown Vindicator before joining Youngstown State University, where she was the faculty advisor to the student newspaper - The Jambar - for 15 years.
Through The Jambar and the journalism classes she taught, she helped to shape a generation of reporters, editors and communicators working in the Mahoning Valley and far beyond.
In addition, hundreds of high school students participated in the YSU Press Day events she organized, which featured local media members as speakers and seminar leaders.
Martindale wrote numerous books and academic papers focused on how minorities were unjustly covered by the media during the civil rights movement, including her 1986 book titled "White Press and Black America."
In 1985, YSU honored her with a distinguished professor award for excellence in teaching, research and scholarship.
Martindale retired from the university in 1996 and died in 2017.
Mark Niquette
Niquette has been a reporter covering government, politics and the economy for more than 35 years.
He began his career at The Vindicator, where one of his earliest assignments was helping to cover the 1991 murder of reputed mob boss Joseph "Joey" Naples.
A year later, Niquette became the paper's politics writer, covering investigations into public corruption and organized crime, the fall of former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., local and state elections and presidential candidate visits to the Mahoning Valley.
After a brief time at The Akron Beacon Journal, he worked for 10 years at The Dispatch in Columbus, where he covered business, state-level politics and government and presidential elections in Ohio.
At Bloomberg News, Niquette has covered national breaking news, municipal finance and state government, presidential and midterm elections, and the intersection of the economy, government and politics.
A native of Kaukauna, Wis., Niquette earned a bachelor's degree in history from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. He and his wife, Lisa, former Vindicator business editor, live in Upper Arlington, Ohio.
Dan O'Brien
O'Brien has been writing and drawing about Mahoning Valley business and politics for 39 years for The Business Journal.
A Youngstown native, who attended Ursuline High School, he received bachelor's and master's degrees in history from Youngstown State University.
As a YSU undergraduate, O'Brien landed his first newspaper job as the resident political cartoonist at The Business Journal, taking on his most famous and favorite subject, U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr.
His cartoons and caricatures have also appeared in The Plain Dealer, the Washington Monthly, and numerous editions of Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year.
In 1998, O'Brien became a full-time staff reporter at The Business Journal, where he covers advanced manufacturing, the automotive and oil and gas industries, and state and local government.
He has received three first place Ohio excellence in journalism awards from the Press Club of Cleveland.
He is an adjunct history instructor at YSU and the Kent State University Trumbull Campus.
O'Brien and his wife, Michelle, live in Youngstown near their two sons and two grandchildren.
Bob Yosay
A 1971 graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School, Yosay received a bachelor's degree from The Ohio State University in 1975.
As a boy, he delivered about 90 daily and Sunday newspapers for nearly five years.
What began as a paper route grew into a life-long connection to newspapers, journalism and photography.
As a college student, Yosay had summer jobs in The Vindicator's composing room and photography department. He was a full-time Vindicator staff photographer from 1976 to 2019, having been promoted to chief photographer in 1990.
Yosay called The Vindicator a family-like organization dedicated to outstanding journalism and community service, where he learned from some of the best professionals and proudly worked for 43 years.
Yosay and his wife, Janet, have three children and four grandchildren.
Youngstown Press Club to honor outstanding communication professionals
David Skolnick
2026 First Amendment Award |
Chad Krispinsky
2026 Excellence in Media Award |
Lori Factor
2026 Medal of Merit |
The Youngstown Press Club will honor three outstanding local communications professionals at this year's Hall of Fame and Awards Dinner.
David Skolnick, Vindicator politics writer for the past 26 years, will receive the club's First Amendment award for his consistent advocacy for the freedom of the press and the public's right to know.
Chad Krispinsky, WKBN sports anchor, will receive the excellence in media award.
Lori Factor, the press club's immediate past president, will receive the medal of merit - an internal award for someone who has made a significant contribution to the club.
The awards dinner will be at 5 p.m. Sept. 23 at Stambaugh Auditorium.
David Skolnick
Skolnick has been a newspaper reporter for 38 years, including the past 31 years at The Vindicator and the last seven years at The Vindicator/Tribune Chronicle.
After seven years at newspapers in New York State, he joined The Vindicator in 1995, becoming its politics reporter five years later. For the past 21 years, he has also been the paper's Youngstown city government reporter.
At The Vindicator, he has won several journalism awards for investigative, explanatory, public service and deadline reporting and best use of public records.
Skolnick objects when public bodies use executive sessions to conduct business that should be done openly, and he frequently uses public records to better inform readers about government.
He regularly seeks personnel files to expose the troublesome conduct of some government employees and police records that provide details of criminal conduct.
He pores over court documents to explain complex civil lawsuits and examines Youngstown's payroll to show abuses of overtime.
Skolnick was honored this year by the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists as the Best Government/Political Reporter with judges calling him "a watchdog for your community," who "writes with authority."
He was honored twice last year by the Ohio Associated Press Media Editors. From them, he received a best public service award for coverage of lawsuits against a Trumbull County recorder candidate for defaulting on several business and personal loans. He also earned a best breaking news award for providing what judges called "deep insight" on important issues.
He resides in Austintown with his wife, Elise. They have two daughters and three grandchildren.
Chad Krispinsky
Krispinsky, who joined WKBN in 2004, is a sports anchor and executive producer of the WKBN Game of the Week.
A Youngstown native and a 1996 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School, he earned a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from Ohio University and a master's degree in sports administration from Kent State University.
Before joining WKBN, Krispinsky worked for Newsradio WTAM-1100 in Cleveland, serving as a fill-in host of "Extra Innings" - the Cleveland Indians post-game talk show.
In 2001, he was the play-by-play announcer for the first professional baseball game in Brooklyn, N.Y., since the Dodgers left in 1957.
Krispinsky has performed play-by-play duties for all WKBN Game of the Week telecasts, including high school football, basketball, soccer, wrestling, girls' volleyball, Mahoning Valley Scrappers baseball, Mahoning Valley Thunder arena football, professional boxing and Little League baseball and softball.
He has covered the MLB World Series and NBA finals and currently is the main sports anchor for WKBN's 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts.
In 2007, he was awarded second place by the Associated Press in the Best Sports Broadcaster category in Ohio Medium Markets.
In 2019, he received the Ohio High School Athletic Association Media Service Award, and, two years later, he earned second place for best sportscast from the Ohio AP Media Editors.
Last year, Krispinsky was inducted into the Trumbull County Sports Hall of Fame.
He is on the adjunct communications faculties at Youngstown State University and Westminster College.
Lori Factor
For more than three decades, Factor has built a career around connecting people, ideas and organizations. A member of the Youngstown Press Club since its reestablishment in 2018, she was the organization's president from 2023 to 2025. She currently serves on the Board of Governors as past president.
A lifelong advocate for community engagement, education and the arts, she has become a familiar face throughout the Mahoning Valley through her leadership and volunteer service.
Having received a bachelor's degree in advertising and public relations from Youngstown State University, she is known for her enthusiasm, creativity and ability to turn ideas into action.
Factor is best known as director of the YSU Summer Festival of the Arts, having grown the annual festival into one of the region's premier cultural events over two decades of leadership.
Her professional journey has included roles at Farmers National Bank, the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber and Potential Development.
She has spent most of her career at YSU, where she has been executive director of the alumni association and director of the performing arts series.
Today, Factor is director of P-12 and business partnerships and initiatives in the university's government affairs office, where she continues to strengthen relationships between education, business and the community.
She and her husband, Joe, reside in Canfield. They have a son, Michael, and a daughter, Megan.
David Skolnick, Vindicator politics writer for the past 26 years, will receive the club's First Amendment award for his consistent advocacy for the freedom of the press and the public's right to know.
Chad Krispinsky, WKBN sports anchor, will receive the excellence in media award.
Lori Factor, the press club's immediate past president, will receive the medal of merit - an internal award for someone who has made a significant contribution to the club.
The awards dinner will be at 5 p.m. Sept. 23 at Stambaugh Auditorium.
David Skolnick
Skolnick has been a newspaper reporter for 38 years, including the past 31 years at The Vindicator and the last seven years at The Vindicator/Tribune Chronicle.
After seven years at newspapers in New York State, he joined The Vindicator in 1995, becoming its politics reporter five years later. For the past 21 years, he has also been the paper's Youngstown city government reporter.
At The Vindicator, he has won several journalism awards for investigative, explanatory, public service and deadline reporting and best use of public records.
Skolnick objects when public bodies use executive sessions to conduct business that should be done openly, and he frequently uses public records to better inform readers about government.
He regularly seeks personnel files to expose the troublesome conduct of some government employees and police records that provide details of criminal conduct.
He pores over court documents to explain complex civil lawsuits and examines Youngstown's payroll to show abuses of overtime.
Skolnick was honored this year by the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists as the Best Government/Political Reporter with judges calling him "a watchdog for your community," who "writes with authority."
He was honored twice last year by the Ohio Associated Press Media Editors. From them, he received a best public service award for coverage of lawsuits against a Trumbull County recorder candidate for defaulting on several business and personal loans. He also earned a best breaking news award for providing what judges called "deep insight" on important issues.
He resides in Austintown with his wife, Elise. They have two daughters and three grandchildren.
Chad Krispinsky
Krispinsky, who joined WKBN in 2004, is a sports anchor and executive producer of the WKBN Game of the Week.
A Youngstown native and a 1996 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School, he earned a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from Ohio University and a master's degree in sports administration from Kent State University.
Before joining WKBN, Krispinsky worked for Newsradio WTAM-1100 in Cleveland, serving as a fill-in host of "Extra Innings" - the Cleveland Indians post-game talk show.
In 2001, he was the play-by-play announcer for the first professional baseball game in Brooklyn, N.Y., since the Dodgers left in 1957.
Krispinsky has performed play-by-play duties for all WKBN Game of the Week telecasts, including high school football, basketball, soccer, wrestling, girls' volleyball, Mahoning Valley Scrappers baseball, Mahoning Valley Thunder arena football, professional boxing and Little League baseball and softball.
He has covered the MLB World Series and NBA finals and currently is the main sports anchor for WKBN's 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts.
In 2007, he was awarded second place by the Associated Press in the Best Sports Broadcaster category in Ohio Medium Markets.
In 2019, he received the Ohio High School Athletic Association Media Service Award, and, two years later, he earned second place for best sportscast from the Ohio AP Media Editors.
Last year, Krispinsky was inducted into the Trumbull County Sports Hall of Fame.
He is on the adjunct communications faculties at Youngstown State University and Westminster College.
Lori Factor
For more than three decades, Factor has built a career around connecting people, ideas and organizations. A member of the Youngstown Press Club since its reestablishment in 2018, she was the organization's president from 2023 to 2025. She currently serves on the Board of Governors as past president.
A lifelong advocate for community engagement, education and the arts, she has become a familiar face throughout the Mahoning Valley through her leadership and volunteer service.
Having received a bachelor's degree in advertising and public relations from Youngstown State University, she is known for her enthusiasm, creativity and ability to turn ideas into action.
Factor is best known as director of the YSU Summer Festival of the Arts, having grown the annual festival into one of the region's premier cultural events over two decades of leadership.
Her professional journey has included roles at Farmers National Bank, the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber and Potential Development.
She has spent most of her career at YSU, where she has been executive director of the alumni association and director of the performing arts series.
Today, Factor is director of P-12 and business partnerships and initiatives in the university's government affairs office, where she continues to strengthen relationships between education, business and the community.
She and her husband, Joe, reside in Canfield. They have a son, Michael, and a daughter, Megan.
Hall of Fame
The Youngstown Press Club established this award to commemorate those members of our community who have had long and distinguished careers in media. This award will be given to people nearing the end or at the end of their careers.
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Media & Communications PioneersThe Youngstown Press Club is proud to introduce a new Hall of Fame category: MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS PIONEERS. This category honors historical figures who helped shape the media and communications landscape of the Mahoning Valley—individuals whose early contributions laid the foundation for the region’s journalistic and storytelling traditions.
We invite our members to submit nominations for these trailblazers whose vision, innovation and dedication left a lasting impact on how news and information are shared in our valley. |
Hall of Fame Criteria:
- Nomination must be made by a member in good standing of the Youngstown Press Club.
- Nominee does not have to be a member of the Youngstown Press Club in order to be nominated, but nominee must join in order for his or her nomination to proceed to the YPC Awards selection commmittee for consideration.
- Members of the YPC Awards selection committee may not be nominated or nominate anyone.
- Nominee must have a minimum of 20 years professional media experience including journalism, public relations, advertising, writing, etc.
- Nominee must have a connection to the Mahoning Valley and have made a substantial contribution to the field of journalism, communication and media markets.
- The Club may induct up to five people into the Hall of Fame, no more than two posthumous, plus up to three Media and Communication Pioneers.
Excellence in Media Award
The Excellence in Media Award may be given in any category (journalism, PR, advertising, communications, etc.).
The Excellence in Media Award was established to honor those who are currently doing exemplary work in one of the mass communication fields.
The Excellence in Media Award was established to honor those who are currently doing exemplary work in one of the mass communication fields.
2025 Recipient of the Excellence in Media Award: Sydney Canty
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A Detroit native, Sydney Canty received her bachelor's degree in journalism from Wayne State University in 2019 and joined the WFMJ-TV news team in 2020.
She was recently promoted to co-anchor of WFMJ's 11 p.m. news. Canty records, writes and edits content for several of the station's newscasts and has demonstrated a knack for obtaining exclusive interviews and reporting impactful stories. She has received honors, including several Emmy nominations and a recent Emmy award for her investigative story on human trafficking, as well as the Mahoning Valley Young Professionals 25 Under 35 Award. |
Sydney Canty
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2025 Recipient of the Excellence in Media Award: Margie LenhartHaving received a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Slippery Rock University, Margie Lenhart, of New Castle, Pa., is an on-air morning show talent on Willie 95.1 radio.
She and her husband, John Thomas, have created a show that includes local news, weather, sports, music, trivia, listener engagement and support of local charities and non-profit organizations. . Besides Willie 95.1, Lenhart's nearly 30-year career has included on-air work at radio stations WPIC, Lite Rock 102.9 (now Y-103), WRRO, Oldies 93 WBBG, Mix 96, Mix 98.9 and Froggy 95.1. She owns Margie Voiceovers at margievoiceovers.com and has voiced commercials, audiobooks, explainer videos, narrations and more. 2025 Recipient of the Excellence in Media Award: Chelsea Simeon |
Margie Lenhart
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Chelsea Simeon is a digital executive producer overseeing web content on WKBN.com and WYTV.com and social media.
A Brookfield native and a Youngstown State University journalism graduate, she began her career as a print journalist at the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram. There, she won first place Ohio Associated Press awards for enterprise writing and children's issues reporting in 2013 and a first-place children's issues and public service reporting award from the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists in 2014. After Simeon joined WKBN in 2015, she and her co-worker, Jordan Unger, won a first place Ohio AP award for best digital project for reporting on how local communities spent federal Covid 19 relief money. |
Chelsea Simeon
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2024 Recipient of the Excellence in Media Award: Madison Tromler
Madison Tromler is a journalist who started working in Youngstown in 2020 after graduating from Kent State University. Tromler was born and raised in Northeast Ohio and is from North Ridgeville, a city near Cleveland. Tromler was hired as a reporter for WFMJ and then eight months into her career, she was promoted to WFMJ's evening news anchor. Along with anchoring the 6 o'clock news, she writes, shoots and edits reports for the newscast. Prior to graduation, Tromler's first time working in a professional newsroom was during an internship for the Chronicle-Telegram in Elyria. She then worked as a part-time assignment editor for WKYC in Cleveland. |
Madison Tromler
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Excellence in Media Award criteria:
- Nomination must be made by a member in good standing of the Youngstown Press Club.
- Nominee does not have to be a member of the Youngstown Press Club in order to be nominated, but nominee must join in order for his or her nomination to proceed to the YPC Awards selection commmittee for consideration.
- Award can go to an individual or an organization.
- Members of the YPC Awards selection committee may not be nominated or nominate anyone.
- Excellence in this award category should focus on one field of mass communication. Nominations can focus on excellence as it relates to a one-time project or excellence as shown by a body of work.
- Work must have been done in the Mahoning Valley media market.
- This award will only be given when candidates merit recognition.
First Amendment Award
The First Amendment Award was established to honor those who have engaged in behavior in defense of the freedoms protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The award honors a person or organization who has taken a stand with the risk of personal or professional harm. It was created to honor those who have staunchly defended the freedoms protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The nominee must have a connection to the Mahoning Valley region. This award is given in instances where the actions of the awardee are exceptional.
2024 Recipient of the First Amendment Award: Lisa Abraham
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Lisa Abraham, began her career at the Tribune Chronicle in Warren, and went on to work for the Toledo Blade, the Akron Beacon Journal and the Columbus Dispatch.
For 20 years, Abraham covered state and local politics, earning numerous honors for her defense of the First Amendment, including the Society of Professional Journalists’ national First Amendment Award and the Ohio Associated Press’s First Amendment Award. In 1994, while at the Tribune Chronicle, Abraham was jailed for 22 days for refusing to testify before a Trumbull County grand jury investigating a corruption scheme in the county engineer’s office. Believing that journalists should not be forced to become an investigative arm of the government, Abraham refused to testify and was jailed for her actions. She has spoken nationally on the topic of reporters’ First Amendment rights, including appearances at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada. She currently serves as a senior writer for Kent State University’s Division of University Communications and Marketing. |
Lisa Abraham
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The Vindicator Printing Company
2021 Recipient of the First Amendment Award:
The Vindicator Printing Company
The Vindicator Printing Company, along with the Brown Family, provided a family-run newspaper to the Mahoning Valley for 150 years. The paper began in 1869 when it launched as The Mahoning Vindicator. It became the Youngstown Vindicator shortly after.
Its reporting on the mafia, political corruption, and big business matters garnered the paper a reputation of fearlessness. In 1984, the paper became The Vindicator. The paper provided a heritage of reporting to uncover corruption and to be the watchdog for a community, the importance of good story-telling, and the celebration of the past while emphasizing the importance for future First Amendment rights through journalistic freedom and longevity.
The Vindicator Printing Company
The Vindicator Printing Company, along with the Brown Family, provided a family-run newspaper to the Mahoning Valley for 150 years. The paper began in 1869 when it launched as The Mahoning Vindicator. It became the Youngstown Vindicator shortly after.
Its reporting on the mafia, political corruption, and big business matters garnered the paper a reputation of fearlessness. In 1984, the paper became The Vindicator. The paper provided a heritage of reporting to uncover corruption and to be the watchdog for a community, the importance of good story-telling, and the celebration of the past while emphasizing the importance for future First Amendment rights through journalistic freedom and longevity.
First Amendment Award criteria:
Click here for the 2026 Nomination Form.
- Nomination may be made by anyone.
- Nominee does not have to be a member of the Youngstown Press Club in order to be nominated, but nominee must join in order for his or her nomination to proceed to the YPC Awards selection commmittee for consideration.
- Award can go to an individual or an organization.
- Members of the YPC Awards selection committee may not be nominated or nominate anyone.
- This Award is given to honor a person or organization that has taken a stand with the risk of personal or professional harm. The nominator must make this case in the nomination materials.
- The winner must have a connection to the Mahoning Valley region.
- This award will only be given in instances where the actions of the awardee are exceptional.
Click here for the 2026 Nomination Form.
Medal of Merit
The Medal of Merit is an internal award for a member of the Youngstown Press Club who made outstanding contributions to the club.
2025 Recipient of the Medal of Merit: Pete MillikenPeter H. Milliken was born in New York City and received his Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from New York University and his Master of Arts in Journalism from The Ohio State University.
He joined The Vindicator in 1981 and spent 36 years reporting on health and social services, the Mahoning County government and Mahoning County courts. When the Youngstown Press Club was re-established in 2018, he served on its board of governors. He has since assisted the club with communications, news releases and the media. Milliken has established a journalism scholarship in his name at the Youngstown State University Foundation that promotes the future of professional journalism and is awarded annually to a junior or senior journalism major. |
Pete Milliken
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2024 Recipient of the Medal of Merit: JoAnn Kolarik
In 2024 the Medal of Merit was awarded to JoAnn Kolarik, the first president of the re-established Youngstown Press Club from 2018 to 2021. She currently sits on the YPC Board of Governors. JoAnn is an account executive for WFMJ-TV, where she uses a palette of advertising elements and years of experience to help her clients achieve their business goals. She has served on the Panerathon Committee since its inception and serves on the public relations committee for Potential Development’s School for Students with Autism. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English and economics, and a master’s degree in English, all at Youngstown State University. |
JoAnn Kolarik
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Mary Beth Earnheardt
2023 Recipient of the Medal of Merit: Mary Beth Earnheardt
In 2023 the Medal of Merit was awarded to Mary Beth Earnheardt, a former club executive director, for her work in re-establishing the press club in 2018 and guiding it in the years that followed. Mary Beth Earnheardt re-established the press cub in 2018 and guided it in the years that followed. She was the club's first executive director and later served on the Board of Governors..
Earnheardt is the chairwoman of Youngstown State University's communication department and a professor in the Anderson Journalism Program.
She teaches communication law, journalism history and content creation and has published articles and book chapters on war reporting, political motives and the First Amendment.
Medal of Merit criteria:
Click here for the 2026 Nomination Form.
In 2023 the Medal of Merit was awarded to Mary Beth Earnheardt, a former club executive director, for her work in re-establishing the press club in 2018 and guiding it in the years that followed. Mary Beth Earnheardt re-established the press cub in 2018 and guided it in the years that followed. She was the club's first executive director and later served on the Board of Governors..
Earnheardt is the chairwoman of Youngstown State University's communication department and a professor in the Anderson Journalism Program.
She teaches communication law, journalism history and content creation and has published articles and book chapters on war reporting, political motives and the First Amendment.
Medal of Merit criteria:
- Nomination must be made by a standing committee chair or member of the Board of Governors.
- Nominee must be a member of the Youngstown Press Club.
- Members of the YPC Awards selection committee may not be nominated or nominate anyone.
- This Award is given to honor a person who has contributed to the Club.
Click here for the 2026 Nomination Form.
About YPC award nominations
All awards nominations are due by May 1 of the given year. A separate form is required for each nomination. Letters of support and documentation in support of the nomination should be attached, with the form, and emailed to the Youngstown Press Club at [email protected]m. Questions should be directed to [email protected].
Awards will be presented annually at the Hall of Fame and Awards Dinner in September.
Note these changes for 2026 Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame is now worded: “Nominee must have a connection to the Mahoning Valley and have made a substantial contribution to the field of journalism, communication and media markets.”
Nominees for Hall of Fame no longer are limited to those who have made the majority of their notable contributions in the Mahoning Valley media market.
In addition to up to 5 inductees, with no more than 2 being posthumous, the YPC Hall of Fame will induct up to 3 MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION PIONEERS. These inductees will add a historical perspective to our exemplary Hall of Fame.
Nominations for Media and Communications Pioneers will be the same as other Hall of Fame nominations.
Awards will be presented annually at the Hall of Fame and Awards Dinner in September.
Note these changes for 2026 Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame is now worded: “Nominee must have a connection to the Mahoning Valley and have made a substantial contribution to the field of journalism, communication and media markets.”
Nominees for Hall of Fame no longer are limited to those who have made the majority of their notable contributions in the Mahoning Valley media market.
In addition to up to 5 inductees, with no more than 2 being posthumous, the YPC Hall of Fame will induct up to 3 MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION PIONEERS. These inductees will add a historical perspective to our exemplary Hall of Fame.
Nominations for Media and Communications Pioneers will be the same as other Hall of Fame nominations.
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