Lookout Eugene-Springfield gains support, new journalists & local partnerships

27 days to go! Lookout Eugene-Springfield gains support, new journalists & local partnerships

Good morning.

Only 27 days to go ‘til our launch of Lookout Eugene-Springfield.

We expected a good response to last week’s announcement of our April 10 launch date and appointment of Dann Miller and Sarah Lorge Butler as editors. But we have gotten great response.

The email congratulations poured in and were deeply appreciated. What really impressed us is your commitment. More than 100 of you already signed up as Founding Members, in just a few days. Such support as we work around the clock at 771 Willamette, Eugene, means so much to all of us, both those of us who have built the foundation for Lookout here and those who are increasingly filling up the newsroom.

Thank you for that early support, and we remind you of an easy ask: Please share the “sign up for our free newsletter” link with friends, neighbors and family, and on social media. Our newsletter list is now rapidly growing, thanks to you, and we want it maximized as we actually begin publishing news soon.

This week, we introduce two additional Lookouters – and offer our first invitation to sign up for our Neighborhood Newsletters, more on that below. And, of course, we invite those of you who haven’t yet become Founding Members to join us, propelling us faster forward in producing trustworthy local news for you, throughout each day.

Become a Founding Member

Founding Marketing Partners

As our founding period picks up speed, we also extend a big welcome to Emerald Broadband, Lookout’s first Founding Marketing Partner.

This partnership means that the company will be widely represented with marketing and messaging across Lookout as we launch, and in the lead-up to it. Emerald Broadband supports our big push to provide broad trustworthy news for the whole community. We thank them for their early enthusiasm and support. We’re in the process of signing up additional Founding Marketing Partners; please contact Jed Williams, our chief operating officer, for more information. And Morgana Dundon, our ad sales manager, is your direct contact for advertising as a Marketing Partner overall. Say hi to Morgana here.

Please welcome Ashli and Mike

Please welcome Ashli Blow, our new environment and public health correspondent. Amid all there is to cover locally, we’d have a hard time identifying two more important beats to all who live here.

A native Memphian, Ashli became a Pacific Northwesterner a decade ago, and since then has put together an impressive array of freelance environment work and academic credentials, based in Seattle, where early on she worked for KIRO-TV. As she says in her bio, she’s spent plenty of time in the weeds — not just in policy but also on the ground. Her fieldwork has taken her from recovering timber towns in the Cascade Mountains to coastal communities on the Olympic Peninsula grappling with invasive species. She’s already out meeting people and planning stories for our launch, and we look forward to you meeting her in person.

Mike McInally also joins Lookout as an editor. Mike is a deeply knowledgeable Oregon journalist.

Coming to Oregon a decade ago, he came from another beautiful place, Missoula, where he had worked for 25 years. His editing chops, story smarts and wide knowledge of the state – further honed from Corvallis, where he served as top editor, to La Grande and Astoria – means he is hitting the ground running with us, as he joins editors Dann Miller and Sarah Butler guiding Lookout Eugene-Springfield. Mike will also contribute as a correspondent, drawing on his experience in everything from the arts to politics. Please welcome him.

We all live in places, big places and smaller places, in our neighborhoods.

So as we launch overall, we’re also launching Neighborhood Newsletters. At the start, we’ll offer them for seven areas:

Downtown Eugene
UO Campus Area
South Eugene
West Eugene
North Eugene
West Springfield
East Springfield

The idea is simple. Lookout provides metro-wide news and catches you up on it every day with our Morning Lookout and PM newsletters. The Neighborhood Newsletters give you a slice of the news – and information – tailored to your neighborhood. In these free newsletters, you’ll find the most local of news as we report it – and lots of info. That includes upcoming events in your area, crime reports, road closures and traffic delays, property redevelopment, properties sold near you, restaurant food inspections, microweather and more.

These newsletters have been a huge hit in Santa Cruz. Readers tell us they like the quick look at what may most affect them as they walk out the front door.

Building community together

Exciting news! Lookout Eugene-Springfield is welcoming three powerhouse nonprofits as Civic Partners: Eugene Ballet, Greenhill Humane Society, and #InstaBallet. Collectively, these organizations bring art, compassion, and engagement to the heart of our region.

We are proud to amplify their work through our trusted local news platform. Civic Partners receive increased visibility, media sponsorships, and marketing support. They also help Lookout grow a more connected and informed Eugene-Springfield. This is just the beginning. We are in active discussions with more nonprofits eager to join this movement.Is your nonprofit looking to expand its reach and impact? We want to hear from you. The Civic Partner Program highlights the incredible work being done across Lane County. The benefits go far beyond media exposure. If you are interested in learning more, reach out to Amanda Coers, Lookout’s Community & Student Engagement Manager: amanda@lookoutlocal.com. Let’s work together to build a stronger and more engaged community.

Lookout in the news

We appreciate being the new kid on the block.

City Club recently invited us and reps from KLCC and Eugene Weekly to participate in a discussion on local news media change. It was a lively hour at the WOW hall, and captured on KLCC. Listen to it here.

And we appreciated the depth of Lucas Hellberg’s piece on our launch in the Oregon Daily Emerald, “Lookout Eugene-Springfield plans to restore in-depth local news.”

We have spoken or will speak with many of you over the last month, at a League of Women Voters Lane County meeting, the local Professional Women’s Forum and Eugene Rotary Club. We’re glad to tell our story and hear from you what you want to see from us.

Please contact Amanda to talk through media or community connections.

Thanks to you, our Founding Members

Through this week, 30 individuals and seven family foundations have each donated $5000 or more to get Lookout launched. We list them below and thank them. You can still join then. Please contact us if you’d like to join them in the Circle.

And a final thanks to our fast-growing Founding Members, the list here.

As we name our current donors below, please help us reach our funding goal by the year’s end. 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

Foundations: