-30- for Vindicator

After more than 150 years, the Youngstown Vindicator to cease publishing in mid-August.

Vindicator publisher Betty J.H. Brown Jagnow and general manager Mark Brown, her son, whose family also owns Youngstown’s WFMJ-TV, said the move will not affect the TV station.

The Mahoning Valley newspaper began publishing June 25, 1869. Mahoning County and Youngstown will be without a daily newspaper for the first time in 150 years.

To read the article, go to

http://www.wfmj.com/story/40723209/vindicator-announces-it-will-stop-production

My history double endangered

Well, two newspapers I worked for are on the endangered species list.

The Akron Beacon Journal building and the Dayton Daily News building landed on Preservation Ohio’s List of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites for 2019.

There are 13 structures on that list, and I made a living in two of them for 39 years of my 43-year newspaper career. The only two newspaper buildings on the list at that.

The BJ building went up in 1930 as the Akron-Times Press. In 1938 the BJ moved into the building after swallowing the Times-Press.

John Knight took his father’s debt-ridden newspaper and built it into a 32-newpaper marvel that stacked up Pulitizers like pancakes at Buzzards Return Day in Hinckley.

To read the full BJ artice, go to

http://akronbeaconjournal.oh.newsmemory.com/?token=6ed130069a116c8cf8d2fb53f433001b_5d0f85cc_d8a4&selDate=20190623&utm_source=emailMarketing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email+stats

Athena Forrest Gerber’s husband passes away

Mary Beth Nord Breckenridge posted:

Former copy editor Athena Forrest Gerber's husband, David, died in his sleep early Saturday. Services are Saturday in Willoughby.

Athena was at the BJ 1993-1998, then became children’s librarian in Eastlake.

You can send your condolences directly to Athena at agerb71@gmail.com

David’s obituary:

David F. Gerber, 50, of Eastlake, died at home on June 15, 2019.

Born June 13, 1969, he was a Lake County resident for 13 years, previously living in Pittsburgh.

He was the beloved husband of Athena L. (nee Forrest) Gerber; brother of Naomi Wells, Jon Gerber and Rebecca (Andrew) Stapleton. He was the nephew of Carol Stewart, Gloria (Carl) Blaisdell and Sam (Lori) Gerber. He loved his in-laws Martha and William Bundy. He doted on his nephews and nieces: Elizabeth Wells, Elizabeth Stapleton, Marqees Forrest, Duane Green, Maleek Green, and Keonie Forrest Bundy.
David was preceded in death by his parents, Howard L. and Joanne (nee Stewart) Gerber Overton.

Family will receive friends from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday, at The Abbey of Willoughby, 38011 Euclid Ave. (located on the grounds of McMahon-Coyne-Vitantonio Funeral Home), in Willoughby, where a Celebration of Life Service will be conducted at 6:00 p.m. Burial will be private.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Lake Humane Society.

To leave condolences for the family or participate in the Memorial Tree Program, visit www.MCVfuneralhomes.com .

Mizell quotes in lofty company

USA Today includes quotes from Mizell Stewart in its graduation commencement speech articles.

Mizell Stewart

Mizell, former Beacon Journal managing editor , is a USA Today Network senior executive.

Others quoted included Trump’s Attorney General William Barr, former Miami Heat NBA star Dwyane Wade, Oscar winner Viola Davis, German chancellor Angela Merkel and Bill Nye “the science guy.”

The Mizell paragraph:

Mizell Stewart III, USA TODAY Network senior executive, Bowling Green State University: "I know that many of you struggled financially. You weren’t at your best in the classroom. You dealt with crazy family relationships. Some of you have health issues that will dog you long into the future. ... A couple of you, like me, made poor life choices. No one did it to you. You did it to yourself. ... The trajectory of your life will be determined less by what happens to you and more about how you respond to whatever the world throws your way. ... Your life story will ultimately be defined by how you overcome adversity — how you climb out of the valley — than what you accomplish at the peak."

To read the article, go to https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/06/15/dwyane-wade-angela-merkel-other-commencement-speakers-column/1425043001/?fbclid=IwAR349GEIsFVI_GphpJV74UrzO0fXc9dIpeW20EjWlxZyoCHlGG5iKUvVzSA

Fake news about Google news revenue

About that report that Google is making $4.7 billion a year on its news coverage.

Even the New York Times bought into the claim.

Not even close to the truth.

Click on https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2019/sense-and-nonsense-about-the-future-of-news/ to read the article.

Elaine Guregian’s writing still hits high notes

Elaine Guregian

Former BJ pop culture critic Elaine Guregian, deeply involved these days in Northeast Ohio Medical University’s Ignite magazine, got a handful of awards from the Cleveland Press Club’s Excellence in Journalism Awards handed out Friday, June 7 at the House of Blues in Cleveland.

Quality writing pays off even in such different areas as dance and music and medicine.

Elaine’s “Women in Surgery: A Rising Tide” article got first place in the Trade Publications Features/Trends category.

Elaine is Ignite magazine’s editor and assistant director of NEOMed’s Office of Marketing Communications. Ignite was named best Trade Publication in Ohio.

Other awards for Ignite:

Best in Ohio: Page Design — Covers

Trade & Professional Publications

• First Place, Fall 2018 Ignite (Dave Szalay, Elaine Guregian, Scott J. Rutan, Roderick L. Ingram Sr.);
• Second Place, Spring 2018 Ignite (Dave Szalay, Elaine Guregian, Scott J. Rutan, Roderick L. Ingram Sr.)

Elaine moved to NEOMed in 2015. She was at Ol’ Blue Walls for 16 years, leaving 44 E. Exchange Street in 2008.

Update on Dale Allen

Former BJ editor Dale Allen will be rehabbing at Cleveland’s University Hospital Harvard Road facility for two weeks.

His daughter, Kendall Allen Rockwell, said his speech “is coming along.”

Dale has been dealing with the effects of a brain tumor since April.

Dale, vowel-avoiding Features Editor Jim Nolan and I were the midwives for Channels’ TV guide birth in 1980. It was a Management By Objective (MBO) project for Dale.

A few years later, Dale had me slow down the BJ computers while Knight-Ridder representatives were in the building to determine if Ol’ Blue Walls needed more mainframe power. I did.

KR folks went back to Miami and the BJ got its upgrade to superpower mainframe.

 

Old story in New England

Sad but excellent article about Gatehouse, which owns more than 100 newspaper in the Greater Boston area.

Familiar story to those who work or did work at the BJ. Unfortunately.

50 weeklies were squeezed into 18 weeklies.

Gatehouse is struggling to rise from its 2013 bankruptcy filing.

To read the article, go to https://www.wgbh.org/news/commentary/2019/06/05/future-shock-as-gatehouse-lays-off-journalists-merges-papers-and-prepares-for-a-possible-deal-with-gannett

1. 
    
2. Stuart Warner is going -30- with another newspaper.

He’ll “retire” from the Phoenix New Times October 15.

December 12 would have been the 50^th anniversary of his newspaper career.

Stuart is keeping his part-time job editing for the Association of Religion Data Archives.

Stuart and wife Debbie Van Tassel left Cleveland for Arizona in 2013. Both once worked for the Arizona Republic, Stuart for four years. They married in 1982.

Their daughter, Denise Warner, is editorial director/digital at Billboard, which has been serving the music entertainment business since 1894.

Emilie Warner Clemmens and Amanda Warner Poynter, their other daughters, live in Lexington, Kentucky, Stuart’s old haunt (Stuart went to Lafayette High School in Kentucky and is a University of Kentucky graduate and came to the BJ after 10 years with the Lexington, Kentucky newspaper). The daughters are the parents of four of Stu and Deb’s grandchildren.

Stuart came to the Beacon Journal after 10 years with Knight-Ridder's Lexington newspaper. He was at the BJ from 1979 until 1999, when he switched to the PD, which he left for Arizona.

June 12 farewell party for latest BJ departures

There will be a farewell gathering for Lynne Sherwin, Norma Hill, Mark Turner and Jamie Hogan at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 12 in the front bar of Barley House in downtown Akron.

·         Because Norma Hill had a conflict, the date was switched to from Monday, June 10.

For an earlier story on the latest layoffs, go to https://bjretirees.blogspot.com/search?q=And+the+BJ+%26+newspaper+beatdowns+go+on+and+on 

 

Marchione on BJ front page becoming a habit

Former BJ reporter Marilyn Marchione, chief medical writer for the Associated Press, got her article about progress in early detection of cancers on the front page of the BJ again today.

Marilyn Marchione

She did the same thing in 2007 and 2010, that I know of. Probably others, too.

Marilynn became AP Medical Writer in 2004 after more than 25 years as a reporter and editor at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Chicago Sun-Times and the BJ for 10 years (1976-1985), including as assistant Metro Desk editor. She was named AP's Chief Medical Writer in September 2011.

In 2010 she was awarded the Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Journalism as an AP medical writer. The promotion followed. A $3,000 check came with it.

Marilyn is a graduate of Youngstown’s Ursuline High and Kent State University. Her mother, Alice Marchione, lives in Boardman, Ohio.

Husband Ernie is photo editor for Birders World, a bird-watching magazine for Kalmbach Publishing in suburban Milwaukee. Their children are Melissa and Mike.

Marilyn writes that “I am always looking for a good story, good book, bike ride on a nice day” in Milwaukee, where they live.

To read Marilyn’s latest BJ front-page story, go to https://apnews.com/0206fab35bc2463aa1d1ac411f0a96a5