Happy Birthday, Tribune Chronicle!
Newspaper marks 210 years since 1st edition
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WARREN -- Thomas Denny Webb, the man who published the first edition of The Trump of Fame on June 9, 1812, at one point considered calling his newspaper A Voice from the Wilderness.
Now, 210 years later, the Tribune Chronicle -- the newspaper that evolved from that four-page publication -- remains standing in an increasingly crowded media forest.
That first newspaper predated the telegraph and the telephone. It was delivered more than a century before the first scheduled radio broadcast and has survived the advent of television, internet, social media and other outlets also available to deliver news and information.
"In the last 20 years, we've probably seen more changes in the newspaper business in such a short time than ever," Publisher Charles R. Jarvis said. "Obviously we've become much more focused on how we make our newspaper relevant to the times and how we adjust to the digital era. We are delivering our newspaper on so many different platforms and in so many different areas -- our digital replica edition, obviously on the website and even the use of several social media platforms."
Those early newspapers informed their readers, and they continue to help the community understand its past.
Meghan Reed, executive director of the Trumbull County Historical Society, said, "The newspaper is an incredibly significant resource for giving us clear insight into the daily lives of those first people who settled here from Connecticut … Those early newspapers are the biggest tool for early research that exists."
The line that connects the Trump of Fame to the publication carrying this story is a circuitous one. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, different publications were started, sold, renamed, merged and adapted to reflect the changing times.
Those changes continued since the Tribune Chronicle celebrated its bicentennial in 2012. After the owners of The Vindicator in Youngstown announced their plans to close Mahoning County's primary newspaper, Ogden Newspapers, a family-owned newspaper group founded in 1890 that owns the Tribune Chronicle, purchased the name, website and subscriber list for The Vindicator. It has been producing print editions of both the Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator since Sept. 1, 2019.
"That was a watershed moment for our paper," Jarvis said.
It allowed the publications to continue print editions and home delivery seven days per week at a time when many newspapers have scaled back one or both.
"I think we have a very strong readership base and a very strong advertising base here that allows us to continue to produce a newspaper seven days a week, and a very dedicated carrier force that helps us deliver the paper seven days a week, so I think we are a lot different than a lot of communities that have seen their newspapers scale back," Jarvis said. "We're just blessed to have a tremendous staff of dedicated journalists."
While some of the delivery platforms have changed, Jarvis said the mission of the newspaper remains the same.
Brenda J. Linert, a longtime journalist who has been editor here for eight years, said the key to producing a quality publication always is accuracy and balance.
"Frankly, it's amazing to me that after doing this for 210 years, our products still remain very relevant to our community," Linert said. "Our readership still turns to us everyday for local coverage they cannot get elsewhere -- whether it's to find out what crazy thing happened at their county commissioners meeting, to get in-depth stories on high school football games or to review the local obituaries."
Jarvis agreed.
"I still think our customers rely on us for fair news reporting," he said. "They rely upon us for advertising information that will save them money. I don't think that has changed a lot. They depend on us to be the people who are most concerned about what is going on in this community.
"It is amazing for us to be 210 years old. I assume we're the oldest or one of the oldest continuing businesses in the community. It's just amazing we have the support to continue to do what we do."