By Joslyn DelSignore / The Jambar
Throughout the 2025-26 school year, The Jambar has continued to serve as a voice of Youngstown State University students.
While releasing a paper and a show every week, The Jambar employees are also full-time students. There is a lot of work and heart that goes into everyone’s job.
The newspaper is led by junior English major and Editor-in-Chief Matthew Sotlar, completing his first semester in the role.
“The Jambar is like a family-run business. We’re all a big family, a ‘Jamily’. Everyone plays a very integral role,” Sotlar said. “I want to cultivate a very welcoming environment here where nobody feels discouraged.”
Every Sunday, employees finish up their stories from the previous week and prepare for their story assignments for the upcoming week.
Mondays and Tuesdays are spent editing stories on Google Docs. At 3:30 p.m. Tuesdays is the “Jamandatory Meeting”, a new addition to the staff’s schedule this semester, where they come together to discuss goals, improvements and story ideas.
Wednesdays are production days where the editorial and design staff finalize the paper before it goes to print. Production days can last from the afternoon until late in the evening. The Jambar newspaper is released every Thursday.
The editorial staff includes Arts and Entertainment Editor Mick Dillon, News Editor Nicarlyle Hanchard, Sports Editor Marissa Masano, Assistant Arts and Entertainment Editor Scout Nicholson, Copy Editors Katelyn Obermiyer and Maria Schwartz, Assistant News Editor Alex Sorrells and Editor-in-Chief Matthew Sotlar. Designers include Kristina Tufaro and Dylan Cretella.
“We are extremely dedicated to what we do. We always want to create the best content possible, the most engaging content possible,” Obermiyer said.
Obermiyer said the editorial staff is not only passionate about their own work, but being a voice of the YSU community as well.
“We are here to serve the community,” Obermiyer said. “We love what we do. Whatever they want to see, we’re here to serve.”
Reporters include Benjamin Davis, Joslyn DelSignore, Keon Edington, Joshua Robison and William Staten.
“It’s hard work,” Hanchard said. “Everything we do here, Monday to Friday, is with [the students] in mind.”
While this work is being put into the newspaper, there is also a lot of work going into JambarTV, led by Executive Producer Mabel Crouch, who is also new to her role.
“The environment is definitely a positive one to be around,” Crouch said. “I found a community on campus through The Jambar that I hadn’t been able to find before.”
Crouch receives all of the scripts for the show by Tuesday night. Wednesdays are spent making a master script, while video editors spend their time editing all of the stories.
Thursdays are show days when every show for JambarTV that week is filmed. “Jambar in 10” is released Fridays at noon, and biweekly shows “Penguin Panel” and “Jambar Magazine” are released Mondays.
The Jambar staff closed out the semester attending the Ohio News Media Association Fellowship Day in Columbus.
“We ended up walking away with five different awards. It was a really awesome experience,” Schwartz said.
The awards included:
- First place, sports coverage, The Jambar staff
- First place, arts and entertainment, Scout Nicholson
- Second place, design, The Jambar
- Second place, headline writing, The Jambar Staff
- Third place, photojournalism, Alex Sorrells
The Jambar is not just a job, but the students said it’s also a place where they can do what they love and meet people on campus.
Freshmen DelSignore and Nicholson found their home on The Jambar last fall. Nicholson said the space gives her a place to write and bond with staff.
“I don’t think I’ve loved anything more,” Nicholson said. “I feel like I’ve really found my family when I’m with them. They’ve become my closest friends and at the same time, I’m getting paid, and I get to do what I love.”
The Jambar is always hiring and encourages any students who are interested to join.
“There’s always gonna be places for new faces,” Sotlar said.