YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown Press Club will honor three outstanding local communications professionals at this year’s Hall of Fame and Awards Dinner.

David Skolnick, politics writer for The Vindicator for the past 26 years, will receive the club’s First Amendment Award for his consistent advocacy for the freedom of the press and the public’s right to know.

Chad Krispinsky, WKBN sports anchor, will receive the excellence in media award.

Lori Factor, the press club’s immediate past president, will receive the Medal of Merit — an internal award for someone who has made a significant contribution to the club.

The awards dinner will take place at 5 p.m. Sept. 23 at Stambaugh Auditorium. The club’s 2026 Hall of Fame inductees also to be honored there will be announced later.

DAVID SKOLNICK

Skolnick has been a newspaper reporter for 38 years, including the past 31 years at The Vindicator and the last seven years at The Vindicator /Tribune Chronicle.

After seven years at newspapers in New York State, he joined The Vindicator in 1995, becoming its politics reporter five years later. For the past 21 years, he also has been the paper’s Youngstown city government reporter.

At The Vindicator, he has won several journalism awards for investigative, explanatory, public service and deadline reporting and best use of public records.

On Monday, the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists bestowed a first-place award on Skolnick in the Best Government / Political Reporting category in its annual contest.

Skolnick objects when public bodies use executive sessions to conduct business that should be done openly, and he frequently uses public records to better inform readers about government.

He regularly seeks personnel files to expose the troublesome conduct of some government employees and police records that provide details of criminal conduct. He pores over court documents to explain complex civil lawsuits and examines Youngstown’s payroll to show abuses of overtime.

Skolnick was honored twice last year by the Ohio Associated Press Media Editors. From them, he received a best public service award for coverage of lawsuits against a Trumbull County recorder candidate for defaulting on several business and personal loans. He also earned a best breaking news award for providing what judges called “deep insight” on important issues.

He resides in Austintown with his wife, Elise. They have two daughters and three grandchildren.

CHAD KRISPINSKY

Krispinsky, who joined WKBN in 2004, is a sports anchor and executive producer of the WKBN Game of the Week.

A Youngstown native and a 1996 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School, he earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Ohio University and a master’s degree in sports administration from Kent State University.

Before joining WKBN, Krispinsky worked for Newsradio WTAM-1100 in Cleveland, serving as a fill-in host of “Extra Innings” — the Cleveland Indians post-game talk show.

In 2001, he was the play-by-play announcer for the first professional baseball game in Brooklyn, N.Y., since the Dodgers left in 1957.

Krispinsky has performed play-by-play duties for all WKBN Game of the Week telecasts, including high school football, basketball, soccer, wrestling, girls’ volleyball, Mahoning Valley Scrappers baseball, Mahoning Valley Thunder arena football, professional boxing and Little League baseball and softball.

He has covered the MLB World Series and NBA finals and is the main sports anchor for WKBN’s 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts.

In 2007, he was awarded second place by the Associated Press in the Best Sports Broadcaster category in Ohio Medium Markets. In 2019, he received the Ohio High School Athletic Association Media Service Award, and, two years later, he earned second place for best sportscast from the Ohio AP Media Editors.

Last year, Krispinsky was inducted into the Trumbull County Sports Hall of Fame. He is on the adjunct communications faculties at Youngstown State University and Westminster College.

LORI FACTOR

For more than three decades, Factor has built a career around connecting people, ideas and organizations.

A lifelong advocate for community engagement, education and the arts, she has become a familiar face throughout the Mahoning Valley through her leadership and volunteer service. Having received a bachelor’s degree in advertising and public relations from Youngstown State University, she is known for her enthusiasm, creativity and ability to turn ideas into action.

Factor is best known as director of the YSU Summer Festival of the Arts, having grown the annual festival into one of the region’s premier cultural events over two decades of leadership.

Her professional journey has included roles at Farmers National Bank, the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber and Potential Development. She has spent most of her career at YSU, where she has been executive director of the alumni association and director of the performing arts series.

Today, Factor is director of P-12 and business partnerships and initiatives in the university’s government affairs office, where she continues to strengthen relationships between education, business and the community.

She and her husband, Joe, reside in Canfield. They have a son, Michael, and a daughter, Megan.

Founded in 1902, the Youngstown Press Club promotes journalism and related professions in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys.