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Former Vindicator Staff Join Digital Newsroom Pilot Project

The Vindicator published its last edition on August 31, 2019.
JEFF ST.CLAIR
/
WKSU
The Vindicator published its last edition on August 31, 2019.

A digital news project in Youngstown says it won’t be chasing day-to-day stories. Editor Mark Sweetwood, formerly of The Vindicator, will lead the Mahoning Matters newsroom, staffed by two former Vindicator reporters.

Sweetwood says they will focus on topics people in the Youngstown region care about.

“There is an appetite for that kind of in-depth reporting along with all the stuff – because we’re going to cover the quirkiness of every corner of Mahoning Valley; the foodies out there, the trends, the places that are opening. We’re not going to be kind of this boring, dull sermon on journalism, but we’re going to be watchdogs. We’re going to find those stories that are robust and tell the story of what matters to Mahoning County.”

Mahoning Matters is the first of three digital newsrooms Google and McClatchy are piloting around the country with the Compass Experiment.

The Compass Experiment is being led by Kent State Journalism graduate Mandy Jenkins.

Copyright 2021 WKSU. To see more, visit WKSU.

David Williams is an intern at WKSU for summer 2019. A junior at Kent State, Williams is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism. Williams has reported for The Kent Stater, the university’s student-run newspaper, since spring 2018. His interests include history and politics.
Ella Abbott is studying journalism and forensic anthropology at Kent State. Abbott has previously held the positions of senior reporter for the Kent Stater, the university’s student run newspaper, and editor-in-chief of Fusion magazine, Kent State’s LGBTQ magazine. Her interests are in public policy and crime.