Lookout Eugene-Springfield set to launch April 10

Mark the date.

We’ll launch Lookout Eugene-Springfield on April 10.

While we have assembled much of our growing team – news on that below – it is really so many of you who have launched Lane County’s new news and information organization.

As of today, 190 individuals or families have generously offered their financial support to build this new robust, through-the-day news service for all the people of this region. That substantial and unprecedented support for local news fuels not only Lookout’s birth here, but also our great enthusiasm for getting underway and doing our jobs for you. As important as that funding is, it is the wonderful welcome more than 2,000 of you have offered us in dozens of meetings, receptions, living rooms, wineries (!), club appearances and emails.

Thank you.

Now – with the launch date announced – we can answer the other big question we’ve increasingly gotten: How do I become a member? Today, we also start up our Founding Member program, with details below. Please consider joining us as a Founding Member. We hope to see you soon at one of our launch parties at our new office, 771 Willamette St., Eugene.

BECOME A FOUNDING MEMBER

Today, we are also so glad to announce our new executive editor, Dann Miller. Dann hits the ground running this month, as our newsroom rapidly fills into what will be one of the largest local news teams in the state.

Coming to us from the Courier Journal in Louisville, Kentucky, where he served as news director, Dann brings the deep newsroom management experience we wanted as well as good familiarity with Oregon. From his first letter to us, he spoke of returning to Oregon: “The Willamette Valley holds a special place in my heart. I miss the mountains, coast, climate, produce and people that helped shape me as a person and a journalist. It was a great time for my family and is a place we have talked about returning to since we left.”

Dann worked at the Salem Statesman Journal from 2014 to 2018, and logged three years in Yakima, Washington, before that.

Most importantly, he is a caring, dedicated journalist who deeply believes in fair, aggressive, nonpartisan local news, and has long shown the ability to build teams and community connections to do that work well.

“I am eager and excited to get to Eugene and be a part of telling the stories of Lane County. Oregon is an incredible place to live and do journalism, and it will be so nice to be back,” said Dann.

“It is a privilege to be a part of bringing more journalism to the area and telling the important stories of people in Eugene, Springfield and Lane County. Lookout will be a news source that will reflect what makes this area a special place to live while also advocating for the people who call it home. I look forward to meeting you all and hearing the stories you want told.”

Please welcome Dann.

We are also pumped to announce that Sarah Lorge Butler joins us immediately as well. Sarah wowed us with her initial note, packed with both to-the-point local story ideas and her zeal to do local journalism in the city she has called home for eight years. In each conversation, our want to include her in our launch, and launch planning, became more obvious. With more than a couple of decades experience as an editor and writer for Runner’s World, she’ll help shape Lookout as both an editor and a correspondent. (And we do think that her track knowledge might come in a bit handy.)

“I’m excited to start reporting on the issues that are crucial to the residents of Eugene and Springfield,” Sarah said. “This is a vibrant community with a lot going on, and over my eight years here, I’ve seen first-hand how passionate the community is about its neighborhoods, schools, businesses, and sports. It’s been gratifying to see the overwhelmingly positive response to Lookout even before its launch, and I look forward to working on important stories and hearing from readers.”

Please welcome Sarah.

Become a Founding Member

It is membership that pays our journalists to do their work. Membership, along with advertising sales through our Marketing Partners program, makes Lookout built to last. And while as a public service we offer significant free content, it is only members who have complete access to all the work our newsroom produces.

To commemorate this unique launch moment, we’ve created a Founding Membership program. It is Founding Members who we know care deeply about revitalizing local news, passionately believing that strong, on-the-ground, connect-the-dots journalism makes possible a more engaged and vibrant Lane County, making this a better place for all who live here.

All levels of Founding Membership are available from now through our launch date, and we’ll note Founding Members on our website and prominently in the office as a thank you.

BECOME A FOUNDING MEMBER

You have your choice of joining us at one of three levels: $250, $500 or $1,000 a year, with of course the higher levels propelling our work forward faster.

And there is still time to join the 35 locals who are now members of our Founders Circle, having contributed $5,000 or more to make all this happen.

We know the major reason most of you will join is the best: supporting a revitalized level of trustworthy community journalism. But, of course (!), there’s more, including early invitations to member parties and other special events, fun launch merch now in preparation and early invitations to share your thoughts in our Lookout Listens sessions.

So, please consider joining today, helping us empower the largest newsroom in Lane County.