Let me share a number.

450. 

That’s the number of individuals or couples in Lane County who have shown their financial support of the Lookout Eugene-Springfield launch. (If we counted moral and spiritual support, you can triple that number.) You’ve donated through our Founders Circle program, taken us up on our Founding Membership offer, and supported our Lookout in the Classroom through our online donation page.

You’ve invited us into your living rooms and kitchens, club meetings and to lots of tasty lunches. 

You know who you are. In the truest sense, you can say today, “I launched Lookout Eugene-Springfield.”

That number of 450 is truly astounding. Share it with someone today who has begun to lose hope that we can individually and collectively make things better. Has there ever been a more chaotic national and global landscape? We built Lookout Local, first in Santa Cruz and now Lane County, with the deep, abiding, sometimes unreasonably optimistic view that we can make things better – and that starts with where we live.

We’ve built Lookout on that hope and also with a strong sense of justice. As a business-of-news analyst, one of my seven careers in 50-years of doing journalism, I covered the torturous print to digital transitions of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post – along with the cringeworthy entry of hedge funds and their fellow travelers as they entered and then mercilessly downsized good-to-great daily newspapers, like the long-time-respected Eugene Register-Guard, along with  literally hundreds of other trustworthy dailies. As I transitioned from analyst to later-in-life entrepreneur, I told people the job in front of us was clear: Stop complaining about the hedge fund-driven dailies. Replace them.  

Consequently, what some in the news industry saw as an “experiment” when we launched Lookout Santa Cruz in November, 2020, is now becoming a “model,” as the Oregonian and Portland’s KGW TV report on our launch.  

That’s what Lookout is doing. 

When I made my first trip, of now 20, to Eugene two years ago, I hoped that spirit might still abide here. My wife Kathy is a native Oregonian as are our three kids, and we greatly enjoyed life here in the late seventies and early eighties, before I set off on a wider newspaper management career. I won’t take time or space here to describe that “what a long, strange trip it’s been” arc of returning here to found Lookout. (But I may in the future.)

Today, I just want to thank all of you who have gotten us to the finish line of the starting line. 

We must first acknowledge what has come to be known as our Gang of 6. They stood with us near the quest’s beginning, believing we could will a new news organization to life. We wouldn’t be where we are today without Dave Fidanque, Tim Gleason, David Hilton, Don Mack, Brent MacCluer and Hugh Prichard.

As we launch, before we published more than Ben Botkin’s must-publish-now first story on the profound issues engulfing the Oregon State Hospital, we can thank more than 320 Founding Members, thirty-eight Founders Circle Members, and seven local foundations for your investment in us. And we humbly offer a special shout out to Tykeson Family Foundation, and Amy Tykeson, Ellen Tykeson and Eric Tykeson, for providing the jet fuel at the outset. Their $1 million Challenge Grant lit the fire.

All of that investment enables us to build what appears to be the second-largest local newsroom in the state of Oregon. We are wholly digital and that means we can spend 75% of our budget on people, mostly journalists, as well as the business and community people who support them.

Enough about us. Let’s quickly list all you can access on Day 1:

The News: Our web home page lays out the top stories visually, and right below you’ll find groups of stories, by topics, which you can scroll through. On the phone, you’ll find a similar arrangement, as you scroll down.

Our Entertainment Guide: You told us you wanted to see all of what’s happening in arts and entertainment. You’ll find the calendar a great start. And right there at the top, event organizers can easily add to it.

Newsletters: Sign up for your choice of newsletters at our Newsletter Center. Morning Lookout and PM, keep you informed each weekday, on the top stories. Our Neighborhood Newsletters will grow and grow in story content and be chock full of neighborhood-specific information. Sign up for them all, and know we’ll be adding more over the next several months.

Email Alerts: You can find them at the Newsletter Center as well. Lookout isn’t a daily publication. We’re a through-the-day, through-the-week news company. Email alerts let us tell the most important news of the moment, and we send them judiciously.

Our App: The Lookout app is meant to make it one-touch easy to stay in the know. Download from the Apple Store or Google Play and move it to your phone’s first page.

Community Voices Opinion Page submissions: We want your voices. Here are our just-published guidelines.

Civic Partner info: We’ve already built a vital Civic Partner program, knowing the best non-profits are the glue of a community.

Marketing Partner info: We know how to use the power of digital marketing and messaging to provide awareness and leads for businesses and share of voice for key stakeholders in Lane County. Ad info here.

Our Team Page: I love seeing this page grow, almost day by day. We’re in the final phase of hiring – being highly selective to find the spirited, talented journalists who can serve you – and you can read up on the diverse backgrounds of our full-time team and contributors.

Puzzles: Who doesn’t need down time. Check our page.

Membership Page: We have made signing up easy. Go here to become a member today.

About Us: What are our standards and our policies on ethics, corrections, reprints and more. 

There’s lots more, but that should get you started. 

When your friends and neighbors might ask, what exactly is Lookout, make it easy on them. Please tell them that it’s just a good community newspaper, which happens to be digital, so it can be found on their phones, laptops and by newsletters. You are our best critics – tell us what you like and what can be better – and our best ambassadors. Please share Lookout widely.

Ken Doctor
Founder and CEO