Perspective
The Latest Bad News Out of Youngstown Is Different
The closing of The Vindicator, Youngstown’s daily paper, means that this long-suffering Ohio city won’t have the ability to shape its own narrative.
It’s been a tough year in Youngstown. Along with the closing of the nearby GM Lordstown plant, 2019 has also seen the Ohio city lose one of its two major hospitals. Then, late last month, the community’s 150-year old newspaper, The Vindicator, announced that it would close in August.
This latest body blow has left Youngstown punch drunk, struggling to regain balance. Once known for steel production, the city has since the 1970s become better known for industrial decline. Its economic plight routinely draws national attention, in part because, as we argue in our book, Steeltown USA: Work and Memory in Youngstown, Youngstown’s story is America’s story: What happens here illustrates and often predicts what will happen around the country.