Start saying 'good-bye' to Sandusky Register
Owner's decision to kill newspaper's Youtube channel another sign doors are closing on this chapter of history
SANDUSKY — The owner of the Sandusky Register continues to dodge questions about the company’s decision to delete the newspaper’s YouTube channel—permanently erasing two decades of news coverage for our four-county area.
The Register is owned by Ogden Newspapers, based in Wheeling, West Virginia. While Ogden operates more than 60 daily newspapers across the country, it remains unknown if they are deactivating YouTube channels in other markets or if Sandusky has been singled out for this digital purge.
Bob Nutting serves as CEO of the company and its various family holdings. For nearly two decades, he has also served as chairman of the board for the Pittsburgh Pirates. While Nutting oversees a Major League Baseball franchise, his local managers are presiding over the liquidation of Sandusky’s recorded history.
One local group has expressed interest in restoring the channel, but to date, Nutting has refused to open a dialogue. Jeremy Speer, publisher of the Register and four other Ogden Ohio newspapers, has not responded to questions. He won’t say if anything is being done to protect or preserve the news archive. John McCabe, an executive editor with Ogden, also declined to comment on what the loss of this archive means for the community.
The channel contains thousands of videos: news clips, political debates, public forums, and footage of presidential visits to Sandusky. According to technical experts, this channel can be restored—but the clock is ticking. Google typically provides a 30-day window to recover deleted accounts. The longer Nutting and Speer wait, the more expensive and difficult recovery becomes. Eventually, it becomes impossible.
Despite the stakes, nobody from the company has responded to inquiries. A source said Ogden IT employees decided to migrate away from the Google email platform the Register used for years to cut expenses. In that migration, they simply deactivated the channel. It was a cost-saving measure that might reduce expenses by a modest amount, but the cost to our community’s recorded history is immeasurable.
None of the company’s newspapers have reported on the decision to delete the archives. This isn’t the first time; Ogden deleted a different newspaper archive a few years ago after buying the Register and the Norwalk Reflector in 2019. At the time, Nutting promised to reinvest in community newspapers. Instead, we’ve seen a classic “strip-and-flip” operation: assets sold, costs cut, and staff downsized.
Since purchasing the Register, Ogden has:
Cut the newsroom staff by more than half.
Consolidated press operations to Findlay.
Sold the iconic downtown newspaper building.
Eliminated newsstands.
Outsourced obituary services.
In the last 20 years, more than 3,500 newspapers have closed—roughly two a week. Just last month, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, founded in 1786, shuttered. The Toledo Blade recently closed its iconic downtown building, leaving Lucas County residents bracing for the worst.
The “sundowning” of the Sandusky Register isn’t a theory; it’s a strategy. And right now, that strategy involves hitting “delete” on the memories of the people who live here.
30 days to act
We can’t let two decades of Sandusky’s history vanish because of a corporate IT migration. I am asking the Erie County Historical Society and local leaders to join me in demanding that Ogden Newspapers restore the Register’s YouTube channel before the 30-day recovery window closes.
How you can help:
Share this post: Let the community know what is being lost.
Contact the Publisher: Respectfully ask Jeremy Speer (jspeer@advertiser-tribune.com) why the community’s video archive was deleted and when it will be restored.
Support Local Independence: As the Register continues to fade, we need a new home for local news that belongs to the community, not a corporation in West Virginia.
Visit StayTunedSandusky.com to join the movement to keep local journalism alive.
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