Five journalists from the Mahoning Valley will be inducted into the Youngstown Press Club Hall of Fame Wednesday.

According to a news release, the press club will honor: William “Bill” D. Lewis, photographer for The Vindicator and Tribune Chronicle; Mona Alexander, recently retired news director of WFMJ; Nick Rich, news videographer for WKBN; and Len Rome, news anchor at WYTV.

William Fleckenstein, co-founder and general manager of WHOT Radio, will be posthumously inducted.

This year’s inductees join 11 previously inducted: Bob Black, Stan Boney and Ralph Zernobia from 2021; Ernie Brown, Pete Gabriel, Tom Holden and Andrea Wood from 2022; and Emily Webster Love, Dennis Mangan, Ann Przelomski and Gerry Ricciutti from 2023.

The 2024 inductees are a testament to local journalism, Diane Fitzpatrick, executive director of the Youngstown Press Club, said. The talent from Mahoning Valley news organizations presents a unique challenge when it’s time to decide on Hall of Fame recipients.

“With such a long, storied history of excellence in journalism in the Mahoning Valley, there are so many worthy Hall of Famers and this is a really difficult decision every year,” Fitzpatrick said by email. “Our committee does an excellent job of striking a balance between print journalism and broadcast, and recognizing these legendary journalists from all eras.”

Those inducted and recognized with awards also represent the role of journalism, Lori Factor, YPC president, said.

“The Youngstown Press Club is proud to celebrate the rich legacy of journalism in our community. The honorees are tangible reminders of the importance of a free press and we are so proud of their accomplishments.”

Mona Alexander

Alexander grew up in Chicago and graduated from Northern Illinois University. She moved to Youngstown, starting her media career at WKBN reporting on how the Valley’s steel mills closing impacted the economy, as well as city and county government, politics and public corruption.

In 1997, she became news director at WFMJ, rebuilding the news department, emphasizing on hard news and in-depth reporting.

Alexander also spearheaded an investigative unit and launched “Feed Our Valley,” which raises money and food donations for Second Harvest Food Bank.

Alexander and husband, Joe Henderson, travel and spend time with their beloved pets.

Bill Lewis

For more than 40 years, Lewis produced daily photos for The Vindicator and Tribune Chronicle. The Kent State University graduate covered every president from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump, the fall of the steel industry and the Canfield Fair.

His coverage behind the lens included crime, sports, breaking news and his favorite of human interest, and garnered awards including Ohio Associated Press Best Photographer, Best Photo Essay, Best Sports Photo and Ohio Associated Press Best Online Photojournalist.

Since retiring in 2019, Lewis has continued taking pictures of Lake Erie from his sailboat called Assignment. When he’s not snapping photos, Lewis plays in the folk music group County Mayo Irish Band.

Nick Rich

In 1975, New Castle, Pa. native Rich began his media career as a videographer at WYTV, where he worked for 32 years. Among his accomplishments there, he helped create an archival system preserving thousands of news stories.

He moved to WKBN when the stations merged in 2007.

When there’s been a major news event in Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana, Mercer and Lawrence counties, Rich has covered it. He’s earned awards from the Associated Press, the Press Club of Cleveland, the Radio Television Digital News Association’s National Edward R. Murrow Award, and a Regional Emmy.

Rich lives in Neshannock Township and enjoys fishing, golf, spending time with family and friends, contributes to The Statue of Liberty Ellis Island Foundation and Meals on Wheels.

Len Rome

When Rome walked into the campus radio station as a freshman at Duquesne University, the news writing and reading along with disc jockey work instantly piqued his interest.

Rome enjoyed being a radio announcer so much that he would sometimes skip class to work.

While attending classes, Rome worked at the campus station in addition to WEIF, a top 40 rock and roll station in Moundsville, W.Va. The day after he graduated, the Pittsburgh native was already at work on the airwaves at 6 a.m. at WKJF, an easy listening station in his hometown.

It was a role in TV news that Rome wanted. To achieve his dream, he rented studio time and assembled an “air check,” mailing copies around the country. The effort helped him land a position at WSEE in Erie Pa., as the 11 o’clock anchor.

From there, Rome went to WFBC in Greenville, South Carolina, then WAKR in Akron. Finally, he came to WYTV where he’s been for 40 years as a reporter and anchor. Over the last four decades, Rome has raised a family and has been “livin’ the dream.”

William Fleckenstein

William Fleckenstein, cofounder and general manager of WHOT Radio, will be posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Born in 1924 in Reynoldsville, Pa., near DuBois, Eugene William Fleckenstein moved to Sharon before he entered first grade. It was when he watched the WPIC-AM construction as a teenager that his passion for broadcasting began.

Earning his FCC first class broadcast engineer’s license, Fleckenstein was hired at WFMJ-AM in Youngstown where he met Myron Jones. They dreamed of owning a radio station and in 1951, they left WFMJ to launch WJET-AM in Erie, Pa.

Four years later, Fleckenstein and Jones brought WHOT to the airwaves, which was a hit as one of three stations in the country to play “top 40” music. Disc jockeys “Boots” Bell, Johnny Kay, Dick Thompson and Jerry Starr worked at the station, which was licensed to Campbell.

Local news was covered by six reporters, and even as times changed WHOT continued with its strong news coverage.

Fleckenstein remained general manager of the radio station until his retirement in 1989. He died in 2023 in Fort Lauderdale, two weeks shy of his 99th birthday.

CLUB AWARDS

In addition to the five Hall of Fame inductees, the Youngstown Press Club will recognize three journalists: Lisa Abraham, longtime area journalist and recipient of the First Amendment Award; Madison Tromler, anchor and reporter at WFMJ receiving the Excellence in Media Award; and JoAnn Kolarik, account executive at WFMJ, receiving the Medal of Merit.

To earn the First Amendment Award, recipients have displayed acts defending First Amendment freedoms.

For the Excellence in Media Award, those who go above and beyond expectations in mass communication are named; and the Medal of Merit recognizes those who have made outstanding contributions to the Youngstown Press Club.

LISA ABRAHAM

A native of Niles, Abraham was a member of the Ohio press corps for more than 30 years.

Her career took off while earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio University when she covered the 1985 terrorist hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship, among other stories, in Cairo, Egypt, with the Associated Press.

She began her career after graduation at the Tribune Chronicle and later worked at the Toledo Blade, Akron Beacon Journal and Columbus Dispatch.

It was in 1994 at the Tribune that Abraham was jailed for 22 days for refusing to testify before a Trumbull County grand jury investigating a corruption scheme in the county engineer’s office. She believed journalists should not be part of the investigative arm of government.

Throughout her career, Abraham covered politics at state and local levels, earning awards for her work defending the First Amendment including the Society of Professional Journalists’ National First Amendment Award and the Ohio Associated Press’ First Amendment Award.

Abraham also received awards from the Ohio Associated Press, Cleveland Press Club, Society of Professional Journalists and the Association of Food Journalists.

In 2006, she shifted gears when she began writing features, and spent more than a decade as a food editor and lifestyle columnist.

Abraham authored Famous Chefs & Fabulous Recipes, Lessons Learned at One of the Oldest Cooking Schools in America.

Abraham lives in Warren with husband Richard Hart and is a senior writer for Kent State University’s Division of University Communications and Marketing.

MADISON TROMLER

Since 2020, Tromler has worked in Youngstown following graduation from Kent State University.

Within eight months of her hiring at WFMJ as a reporter, Tromler was promoted to evening news anchor. She also produces reports for the newscast.

Conducting high-profile interviews with the station’s Watchdog Team, Tromler’s assignments included a story with the National Transportation Safety Board on federal rail safety in the wake of the East Palestine Train derailment in February 2023.

Tromler also interviewed President Joe Biden just three months into her career.

Preparing her for in-depth investigations were an internship at the Chronicle-Telegram in Elyria and a part-time position as assignment editor for WKYC in Cleveland.

Tromler is from North Ridgeville, just outside of Cleveland.

JoANN KOLARIK

From 2018 to 2021, Kolarik served as president of the Youngstown Press Club after it was reestablished.

As an account executive for WFMJ-TV, she applies her experience to help clients achieve their business goals.

Kolarik has served on the Panerathon Committee since its inception as well as the public relations committee for Potential Development’s School for Students for Autism.

Attending YSU, she earned a bachelor’s degree in English and economics and master’s in English.

Living in Cortland with her husband, Kolarik helps restore and maintain historic vehicles. In 2020, she became a Peloton enthusiast. Her son, Foster, earned a degree in landscape design and is the fourth generation to work in a family business.

PRESS CLUB ROLE

In 1902, the Youngstown Press Club charter had a roster of 40 members.

Going through years of inactivity and then robust activity, the club formally relaunched in September 2018. Mary Beth Earnheardt, a YSU journalism professor, served as the relaunched club’s first executive director, according to the press club.

Since its reestablishment, there has been “overwhelming, generous support from local media organizations,” Fitzpatrick said, adding there are 102 members.

The press club’s mission is to bring journalists and communicators together, supporting them through different programs that will help them improve and stay informed as the media landscape changes, she said.

The club also works to inform the Mahoning Valley about what journalists do, as well as why it’s important to protect not only local journalism, but the First Amendment.

“Media literacy has never been more important,” Fitzpatrick said.