YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Five journalists with long careers in Mahoning Valley media will be inducted into the Youngstown Press Club Hall of Fame during the club’s fifth annual Hall of Fame and Awards Dinner on Sept. 24 at Stambaugh Auditorium.
The 2024 Hall of Fame inductees are Marie Cartwright, Paul C. Jagnow (posthumously), John Nagy (posthumously), Tony Paglia, and Lisa Solley.
Three additional journalists will receive the Excellence in Media Award: Sydney Canty of WFMJ-TV, Chelsea Simeon of WKBN-TV and WYTV, and Margie Lenhart of Willie 95.1 radio.
The club also will present its Medal of Merit to Peter H. Milliken, a retired Vindicator reporter, for his contributions to the Press Club.
Cartwright, a Canfield High School and Kent State University graduate, served as vice president of corporate communications for DeBartolo Properties Management Inc. and held communications roles with Glimcher Realty Corp. and Revak & Associates. She has served in various community leadership positions, including as a Canfield Township trustee since 2010.
Jagnow worked at The Vindicator for more than 46 years, ultimately serving as managing editor for news. He played a key role in strengthening the newspaper’s coverage, particularly in its reporting on organized crime in the Mahoning Valley. He retired in 2006 and died in 2017.
Nagy, known for his long tenure delivering morning news on WKBN radio, began his broadcasting career as a disc jockey before transitioning into news. He served as news director at WKBN and was inducted into the Associated Press Broadcasters Hall of Fame before his death in 2020.
Paglia spent more than four decades in journalism and public relations. He served as senior regional editor at The Vindicator and later worked as vice president of government and media relations for the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber. He is currently president-elect of the Youngstown Press Club.
Solley began her journalism career at the Tribune Chronicle and was its first female sports reporter. She later served as managing editor before moving into public communications. She returned briefly to journalism with The Business Journal before retiring in 2021.
Excellence in Media Award recipient Sydney Canty joined WFMJ-TV in 2020 and was recently promoted to 11 p.m. co-anchor. She has received multiple Emmy nominations and recently won for her reporting on human trafficking.
Simeon, digital executive producer at WKBN and WYTV, began her career in print journalism and has earned multiple Associated Press and Society of Professional Journalists awards. She joined WKBN in 2015.
Lenhart, an on-air personality with Willie 95.1, has worked in radio for nearly 30 years. She and her husband host a morning show focused on local content and community engagement. She also owns a voiceover business.
Milliken, who worked for The Vindicator for 36 years, has been instrumental in supporting the Press Club since its re-establishment in 2018. He created a journalism scholarship at the Youngstown State University Foundation.
The Youngstown Press Club, founded in 1902 and re-established in 2018, supports journalism and related professions in the Mahoning Valley.