Get to know our Civic Partner Program

Good afternoon,

Keep getting the word out. Please remember to share this newsletter with your friends and neighbors! Sharing works, as our newsletter list is rapidly growing – all thanks to readers like you. And to the question of the moment: Look for our announcements on launch date — and launch parties — very soon.

Welcoming the Boys & Girls Club to Lookout

We are thrilled to host our first official event in the new Lookout newsroom with the Boys & Girls Club of Emerald Valley. This week, we welcome club staff, an esteemed panel of judges, and the four finalists for the Junior Youth of the Year award. Our own Community & Student Engagement Manager, Amanda Coers, is part of this year’s judging panel, eager to celebrate these young leaders. Over the past few weeks, the finalists have been sharing their stories and preparing for this moment. The event at the Lookout office will be their final presentation, where judges will deliberate and make their selection. While the winner won’t be announced until the award dinner the following evening, every one of these young leaders deserve recognition.  

At Lookout, we want our office to be a true community space, and we couldn’t ask for a better way to kick things off. That office, at 771 Willamette, in Eugene, is now fully ready.

Expanding Impact: Lookout’s Civic Partner Program

At Lookout Eugene-Springfield, we believe that strong journalism and strong nonprofits go hand in hand. That’s why we created the Civic Partner Program, a collaborative initiative designed to expand the reach, visibility, and financial sustainability of local nonprofits making a real difference in our region. This initiative is about working together to strengthen community connections and ensure that important local causes get the support and recognition they deserve.

Civic Partners receive preferred pricing on advertising, a dedicated media sponsorship to promote an event or giving campaign, and priority access to Lookout’s Accelerate Your Giving campaign, an annual program designed to help nonprofits with year-end giving. In addition, Civic Partners benefit from multi-platform promotion, including a featured spot on our Civic Partners spotlight page. We use a flexible, ongoing agreement with our partners so we can adapt as needed. We look for organizations with strong community ties that are eager to collaborate on meaningful outreach. If your nonprofit is looking to strengthen its marketing, outreach, and support base, connect with our Community & Student Engagement Manager, Amanda, to learn more.

The past, present, and future of journalism

This week, Aria Lynn-Skov, editor-in-chief of The Axe student newspaper at South Eugene High School, met with Amanda for a behind-the-scenes look at the newsroom as it comes to life. With our first correspondents  starting next week, Aria was excited to get a sneak peek and see how everything is coming together. She has been following Lookout’s progress from the very beginning, reaching out about internship opportunities long before we even had an office. 

After touring the space, she spent time looking through the latest edition of The Axe alongside century-old copies of The Emerald from 1910. Some things have changed, like what was considered serious student debt back then, just over $200, which gave her and Amanda a good laugh. But the heart of journalism remains the same. The need to inform, engage, and connect the community is just as essential today as it was then.

Aria’s initiative, curiosity, and dedication to the craft make it clear that the future of journalism is in good hands. She has a drive that will serve her well in this field, and there is no doubt she will make a great journalist. 

Her visit reinforced exactly why Lookout in the Classroom is such an important initiative. Amanda is working closely with Eugene 4J, Springfield, and Bethel School Districts to shape a program that gives students the tools to think critically, engage with their communities, and see the power of journalism firsthand. Conversations are moving forward, and we are excited to build something that truly serves local students. Seeing young journalists like Aria reminds us why this work matters.

Marketing with Morgana

Earlier this month, our Advertising Manager, Morgana Dundon, brought together Lookout Eugene-Springfield and Travel Lane County for a meeting at our new office. The discussion focused on how we can collaborate to tell the best stories about our region, from Eugene and Springfield to the Cascades and the Coast. 

Travel Lane County plays a major role in driving economic growth, citing the attracting of over 3 million visitors each year and the generation of more than $1 billion in tourism dollars. With 2025’s 50th Anniversary of Pre, the Eugene Marathon, the Nike Outdoor Nationals, and more, Morgana and team are working closely with Travel Lane County on opportunities to leverage our Marketing Partners program to boost awareness for initiatives like these. If you’re looking to reach engaged locals and visitors with your message and story, Morgana is the person to talk to. Reach out to her today and let’s start the conversation: email morgana@lookoutlocal.com 

The times we live in

We’ve never seen a year start like this one, and let us share the fast start of the year at Lookout Santa Cruz. From day one of the Trump inauguration, which witnessed the self-immolation in front of Santa Cruz City Hall to the ICE seizure of Adolfo Gonzalez off of a street in Santa Cruz, we’ve witnessed and deeply covered the news and issues of this moment. And we’re glad we can soon bring like coverage to Lane County. 

What we are all re-learning: Big national stories also are profoundly local ones. In this case, the many local impacts of the Trump era have led us to create the ongoing series, The Trump Presidency and Impact on Santa Cruz County. There, you’ll find all this growing coverage, from immigrant crackdowns and fears to what will be deepening pressure on local government and education budgets, given federal cuts.  

We’ve published a number of the series articles near-simultaneously in Spanish. Here, we continue to use the best tech of the day, in this case, Google AI translation tools, which allow us to do so in a timely – and accurate – way. And we continue to make sure that any AI-aided news creation is always reviewed by a journalist before reaching you. We intend to extend those translations to more and more stories over time, in Lane County as well as Santa Cruz. 

We’re proud of how our whole team has now dedicated itself to this big ongoing story, while covering the run of “regular” news. I’ve written a couple of columns explaining this coverage, given the fraught nature of our times. Journalism itself is facing a new era of critique and we want to be clear with all our readers how we will continue to fairly and forthrightly – without fear or favor – the times we live in.

Thank you for your amazing support

At Lookout, we’re lucky to have fantastic supporters like David and Marcia Hilton. People who truly understand the value of strong, independent local journalism. Here’s why they chose to support Lookout Eugene-Springfield:

“My wife and I donated to Lookout because we believe in the importance of honest local news. Our community deserves the best local news coverage. We are honored to support Lookout.” – David Hilton

Help bring local news coverage to our community with David and Marcia. Tax-deductible donations of any size can be made online and, for contributions of $5000 or more, we ask you to contact us or The Lenfest Institute, owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, by writing Charles Jun at Lenfest: charles@lenfestinstitute.org

As always, thank you to all who have given so generously.

That’s it for this week. You’ll hear from us again soon. 

Ken Doctor

Lookout Local CEO & Founder

Amanda Coers

Community & Student Engagement Manager