Every morning in the Lookout Eugene-Springfield newsroom, we talk about what stories we are working on that day.

It’s often a lively discussion: What are the stories we need to tell? How should we cover them? Who can cover them best?

But most important: What does the community need?

It might be my favorite part of the day. Listening to this growing room of correspondents discussing journalism and what Eugene needs from us.

Sometimes the conversations are newsy, including how we can best cover the multiple budget shortfalls and what proposed cuts in service could mean for Eugene, Springfield, the University of Oregon, Lane Community College and local school districts. It’s always encouraging to listen, collaborate and talk about the best way to tell a story that puts readers at the center. 

And sometimes the conversations lead to other stories that might be as newsy, but tell the story of what’s happening in our community.  This was the case when Lookout correspondents Annie Aguiar and Lillian Schrock-Clevenger each mentioned they had recently visited a different bookstore and collaborated on a story that looked at several different bookstores in the area.

Listening to journalists who are passionate about news, storytelling and the community we serve is a great way to start any day.

A popular cliché in this business: The news never stops.

During the past few weeks, correspondents have led with coverage of important topics to this community:

Jaime Adame, who has been in town since only the beginning of the month, was at a Police Commission meeting last week in Eugene to learn more about license plate readers. Being there, in person, for you, our readers, led him to hear from Police Chief Chris Skinner that the city plans to add red light cameras.

Ashli Blow, Ben Botkin and Jaime have been following the recent double homicide in Oakridge and the two juveniles and one adult charged. Ashli learned about the incident and connection between the two victims and three individuals charged during a fundraising event. Jaime continues to press for additional information.

Sarah Lorge Butler and contributor Mark Baker were at Hayward Field last week when volunteer Dan Pritchard suffered a cardiac event on the track and was quickly taken to the hospital. Tuesday, Mark met with Dan and his wife, Patrice, and learned he is expected to make a full recovery.

What stands out most about these stories is that our journalists learned about them by being in the community, attending meetings. When we launched Lookout Eugene-Springfield, we knew that having our reporters in the field was key to telling the stories that impact residents.

Being present matters, and we are committed to being present.

And the community is responding. In less than three months, nearly 1,100 members have joined us, and daily traffic to the site grows and grows. Several of our stories have exceeded the audience I was accustomed to seeing in much larger cities. That speaks to the desire that exists in Lane County for high-quality, meaningful journalism. 

We continue to learn more about what you all want and need from us. And we will continue to respond and improve our news report.

And we want to hear directly from you.  We have multiple ways to send us your news and feedback:

BECOME A LOOKOUT MEMBER

Part of that includes adding more members to the Lookout Eugene-Springfield team. So, let me introduce you to our two newest staffers.

Grace Chinowsky

Grace will be our city of Eugene Correspondent, also keeping track of what’s happening at the University of Oregon.

A recent graduate of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Grace was editor in chief of The GW Hatchet and had previously reported on local government and university policy. The work Grace has put in covering the complex – and often messy – government that exists in D.C. has prepared her well for giving rich, in-depth coverage of what’s happening inside Eugene City Hall.

A native of Seattle, Grace has completed internships at CNN and MSNBC. During her visit to Lookout, she was able to meet several members at our June 5 launch party.

“At its best, local news reveals the unseen worlds around us, especially those just outside our front doors,” she said. “After meeting a handful of Lookout readers, it’s clear that there’s nowhere better to contribute to this vital journalistic mission than Eugene — a community where civic-minded, compassionate and curious neighbors are never in short supply. I can’t wait to get to work!” 

Grace starts Monday.

Bob Passaro

Bob joins Lookout as our copy editor, ensuring stories have an all-important critical final read and polish before being published.

We aim to produce top-level journalism, and in that ambition, editors count as well as all the feet-on-the-ground reporting. Copy editors, sadly, are no longer the norm in many daily newsrooms. 

One of my early jobs in a newsroom was a copy editor; we were the last lines of defense for every story we published. It was not uncommon to catch basic mistakes that were missed in the primary editing process. It is a recognition of human habit – when reporters or editors look at text for a prolonged period of time, they often see what they think is there – not what might actually be there.

That’s where copy editors come in. Copy editors are a fresh set of eyes reading a story before it publishes. It’s a position that has been evaporating in newsrooms, and journalism has suffered as a result. And at many papers that still have people in copy editor-type roles, those positions are often located in states far away.  

That’s why we are excited about having Bob join the team. He is an experienced and talented editor, and even better – he knows Lane County and Oregon. This experience will help ensure we don’t say OU when we mean UO, and we write it Oakridge and not Oak Ridge.  

Bob has a long career in news, having worked as a copy editor for publications including the Salt Lake Tribune, Post Register in Idaho Falls and spending more than a decade on the Register-Guard copy desk, from 1998 to 2012.

After leaving the R-G, Bob was a co-owner, web developer and content strategist at Figoli Quinn & Associates, a branding and web development agency in Eugene. He also recently launched Elegy, a website for publishing memorial tributes.

“Returning to journalism feels like coming home from exile,” Bob said. “Lookout has hired a great group of people who are driven and working hard to rebuild local news in Eugene and Springfield. I decided this was something I wanted to try to be a part of, to contribute to in whatever way I can.”

Bob’s copy editing experience, combined with his local expertise and development background, will be key as we continue to grow our storytelling capabilities.

Bob starts June 30.

They are the newest, but not the last, staff members to join the Lookout team. We are narrowing in on our photojournalist and finding the right Ducks reporters and a managing editor. This will, for now, complete the Lookout Eugene-Springfield news team, which at 16 will be the largest newsroom in Lane County and the largest newsroom outside of Portland.

Are you a member?  If not, now is a good time to join.

Since we launched April 10, we have been able to provide free access to Lookout Eugene-Springfield because of the support of our Founding Marketing Partners.

We’ve been glad to show this community what you all can expect from Lookout.

As we transition to our membership-based model, now is a good time to join Lookout, if you haven’t already. Only Lookout members will soon get complete access to all the stories our newsroom produces.

Join as a member – $180 for the first year ($15 per month), or $17 per month for a monthly membership. Better yet, join the hundreds of locals who have become Founding Members, fully supporting our news expansion and getting on the record for doing so.

Your support is what makes Lookout Eugene-Springfield possible and has allowed us to build the largest newsroom in Lane County. These are journalists who are in our community daily, focusing on the challenges and struggles but also celebrating the successes while holding those in power to account.

We cannot do this work without the support of this community.  

If you are already a member: Thank you.  

If you are not a member, we hope you will join.

Know More. Every Day. Become a Lookout Member!

Join us for Lookout Listens sessions

At Lookout Eugene-Springfield, we know that doing meaningful journalism means hearing from people who live in this community.  

And we want to hear from you.

We are holding weekly Lookout Listens sessions where we invite 10-12 people to come talk with us and tell us what is important to you: What are the stories we should tell? What are the issues we should address? What do you like about Lookout Eugene-Springfield and what could we do better?

These sessions are important to us and we hope you will be involved. If you are interested in attending a Lookout Listens, please fill out this form and tell us a little about you. We will regularly extend invitations for you to join a session in our downtown office – or somewhere in the community.

We hope to talk with you soon.

Dann Miller is the executive editor of Lookout Eugene-Springfield, bringing decades of leadership experience in both traditional and digital newsrooms.