Vindy critic? Put up or shut up

I had lunch Friday with Vindy editor Todd Franko at Rosetta Stone Cafe (review to come). He was genuinely interested in how people are viewing the Vindicator, its selection of topics, and the quality of its reporting, and he seems genuinely interested in addressing those concerns. In his words, “I’ve got lots of paper and lots of ink.” He wants to know what we’re interested in seeing them cover.

I know that we recently ganged up on the article about the Poland man who came to Youngstown looking for sex. I forwarded this to Todd and said, “How do you change the minds of these individuals about the paper, or can it be done?” My impression of the paper is that it has simply heralded the decline of the city over many years, but I’m not sure if this is because I’ve seen this with my own eyes or I’ve received this wisdom from those I know and then reinforced it with choice headlines I’ve seen thereafter.

I liked Franko, and I want to give him the benefit of the doubt that he’s running a quality operation. Now, I know it’s a big shop, and he won’t change every little thing I might not like: “fugitive of the week”, “scripture of the day”, Cal Thomas, etc.

But I’d like to put out a challenge for us to make a case for important stories and themes and see if we can get traction. Instead of complaining amongst ourselves, let’s make it count and bend Franko’s ear. See something you don’t like? Push back with facts. Don’t see something that should be covered? Push it forward. Just don’t keep silent. This may yet be another golden opportunity to say what you want Youngstown to be and see it happen. What have you got to lose? You can find Todd’s e-mail at the link at the top of this post. I know he’d be happy to hear from you.

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