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Can I speak to an investigative reporter?
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By Todd Franko (Contact)
We had an interesting story last Sunday that looked into questions that surround a steel-mill project proposed for Campbell by a company called Sherman International.
We follow up today with more reporting of the cleanup plans for the property owned by that company.
The steel-mill project is vital reading for various reasons.
But also interesting were the number of readers who saluted The Vindicator for the investigative work involved in the story.
“Finally the VINDY put a great story together and dug into the past where none of these blowhard politicians wanted to!”
“Great job VINDY!”
“Congrats to The Vindicator for exposing this fraud.”
“I’m usually very critical of the Vindy, but this kind of investigative journalism I enjoy and expect.”
There are many parts of the newspaper that we know resonate with readers: weddings, engagements, obituaries, local sports, police and court news, etc.
Investigative journalism such as the Sherman story strikes a chord with the most people inside and outside the newsroom.
Everyone wants to know the story behind the story; to separate fact from fiction; to see beyond a particular spin.
The search for truth, or the attempt to force some folks to confront a particular truth, is a pretty cool feat.
In our industry, it’s almost clich in terms of our role and a community’s interest in that role. If I had a quarter for every phone call that started “I want to talk to your investigative reporter ...,” well, I’d have a lot of quarters.
Here are some realities of investigative reporting:
It takes a lot of hard work, it requires a sense of knowing when to kick the tires on something, and it requires some luck.
Business reporter Grace Wyler worked with Managing Editor Mark Sweetwood for about four weeks on last week’s steel story.
Ten or 20 years ago, devoting that much time was easier because of a larger staff.
We’re smaller today due to advertising decisions nationally and locally. (Yes, those who advertise in The Vindicator allow us to do our job. So, indirectly, they help make stories like last week’s possible. So if you liked that story, remember that when buying a car, a home or groceries or whatever.)
Putting in that much time to one story means other stories Wyler would have worked on don’t get done. Period. And that’s a tough “period” to rationalize when you’re on the phone with a bank or a new store or a community group.
So we’re cautious when tackling such a story. We kick one tire, so to speak, to see what happens. Depending on that one kick, we proceed to another or not.
We do it for businesses such as V&M Star or VXI or for candidates for office or for a new top public job.
The Sherman International project may or may not be feasible.
Time will tell.
But at least through our stories, we’re a lot more aware of what to look out for as this project advances.
Comments
Very nice investigative piece. But like one poster stated on the original why does the Vindy have to take a negative angle? Is it because its Campbell? The first job prospect down there and the Vindy tears it up. Way to possibly scare off Sherman. I hope they dont think that the Vindy represents how the local people feel, we welcome them to come with oepn arms. I'm also surprised Jeanne Starmack didnt write this piece. She's good for writing her own soap opera of Campbell.
Bottom line is anything is a possiblilty to come down there the area needs to be cleaned up. Hence the ongoing committee and people that have been working on the brown fields for quite some time now. Whether irs Sherman or whoever lets have a little positive attitude towards it.
The vindy picks and chooses what city gets the lime light and which ones get the shaft. Boardman and Canfield is on the titt while Youngstown and Campbell usually get slammed. There usually is nothing positive written about the two.
Is was a great piece.
Stop crying LOL the vindy did a great job reporting on this story.
Your just upset because they (vindy) exposed your mayor for what he is a fraud.
Keep drinking the kool-aid and pray you will have a job come November when the city runs out of money.
Shining the light on the dark corners exposes what is lurking . THIS IS A REQUIREMENT IN KEEPING THEM HONEST . Excellent job Vindy !
More of it please...maybe take some of the priority on covering local high school football and examine some corruption locally
If we can't count on the media with it's resources,contacts,knowhow and legal means to info we cannot get,then how will we ever know what the politicians and business people are selling us? We need an honest media working for the folk. That's why I was so impressed with this article. If it takes a Vindy reporter many weeks to come up with this story,I'll gladly pass on the bleeding heart stories I usually read about. Thanks again.
I'm glad to see someone is questioning the wisdom of having steel move back here. It was the steel companies that killed this town. It is stupid to let them back in. Even stupider to give them my tax dollars to move back in. Does anyone really think these foreign companies don't plan to destroy the town further?
@lombardo
Coitsville Twp isn't Corrupt? Who owns the strip club in Coitsville Twp? Right one of the biggest mobsters in the Tri state area!!!
Dear News Home. Let's not get out the Pulitzer yet. How much time did Ms. Wyler spend when she got herself bamboozled just last month for what we can probably describe as incomplete due diligence? Actually, it probably had more to do with her editor and support staff than it did with her efforts.
http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/jun/13...
I'd be the first to agree that the newspaper industry has been hit harder than most other industries in the past 20 years. The writing is and has been on the wall. Subscriber's will continue to decline. Online news is the wave of the future and it's already here.
Obviously my point was misinterpreted there is no crying here "theword". My point was that everything involving Campbell, and usually Youngstown, is almost always put in a negative light. If something doesn't seem right, sure report on it, but my point was because it involved Campbell is why the extra investigative effort was put into it in the first place. And what came up of it? Negativity. How about stating facts and then ending with "but wouldn't it be nice" or "if all the ducks line up and grants are given this is the possiblilty". No. It's just negativily scewed because its Campbell.
> glbtactivist< and it wasn't the steel industry that ruined this town it was the people running the steel industry that ruined this town. Lack of reinvesting and modernizing the equipment to keep up with foreign steel. We were our worst enemy not our competition. We prived ourselves right out of the market.
@LOL
"my point was because it involved Campbell is why the extra investigative effort"
Maybe because your mayor said 600-1200 jobs were coming to town and this was going to save the city and the area.
Didn't your mother tell you when something sounds too good to be ture it usually is?
@theword
nothin wrong with a little hope.
LOL:
If the plant was planned for North Jackson, we would have done the same.
In fact, we had such coverage last year when a McDonald's warehouse was rejected in Jackson Township.
Read here: http://www.vindy.com/news/2009/oct/22...
It's not about Campbell; it's not about Youngstown. It's about good plans or bad plans.
V&M, VXI, StreetScape, saving the Campbell company homes -- all examples of positive community stories in those cities.
Thanks,
Todd Franko
Editor
I wouldn't count as saving the Campbell company homes as a positive. That story hurt the cause to get rid of those eyesores. Nobody wants those homes down there except the looney toon that owns a couple of rows which are barely occupied. Most of those are dilapidated and a nuisance where wild animals live. Take a ride through the whole area and look at them before you praise a story to save condemned buildings.
How does the owner of a strip club on 422 affect if Coitsville Township is corrupt or not? The strip club is a legal, licensed business that has been operating for years. You can go into any town and find business owners who are corrupt. That doesn't mean the local governing body is.