Welcoming Jackman Wilson to the Lookout team

Jack is back! Updates and other news for Lookout Eugene-Springfield

Good morning, Lane County. We’re glad to keep you updated on our launch and our hiring, which we do today. Please share this newsletter with your friends and neighbors!

Jackman Wilson joins Lookout as our opinion editor

As we began talking with hundreds of locals, we heard the refrain over and over again: We miss having a strong and fair opinion page. The best daily newspaper opinion pages have long acted as a city center, a crossroads of intelligent civic and civil discussion and argument. And The Register-Guard’s section won many plaudits for doing exactly that, week after week, year after year.

When the new owners of the paper dropped those pages in 2022, it left a gaping hole in the community.

Now, we’re glad to say that Lookout Eugene-Springfield will offer the community a vital section. It will be called Community Voices and it will include letters to the editor, local op-eds and editorials. But I’ve saved the best news: Jackman Wilson, The Register-Guard’s esteemed opinion page editor, is joining Lookout us as our Community Voices editor. He’ll edit and direct those pages and engage with you all in many ways, including our new Lookout Listens sessions.

Most of you know his work – 21 years as opinion page editor – and many know him well as an honest broker and fair human being – dedicated to the betterment of Lane County. For those that don’t, (new Lookout contributor) Bob Welch’s recent column on Jack tells the great story of his work over the decades, the little and big impacts the pages had and even how it brought a U.S. senator down to size.

These Community Voices pages will do much of what The R-G did at its best, but as all things with us, our abilities as a digital news medium will allow lots more flexibility, experimentation and multimedia. Jack is a great partner in that adventure. 

And, of course, he is great with words. Here’s what he wanted to say to you about joining us.

“The first time I heard Ken Doctor speak about his plans for an online local news enterprise in Lane County, he talked about the importance of including a vibrant element of opinion. It wasn’t just talk. Everything I’ve seen and heard since then has left me convinced that Ken and those around him understand that robust editorials, letters and guest columns will be vital to Lookout Eugene-Springfield’s success. Now, as Lookout Eugene-Springfield’s launch draws near, I’ve agreed to join Ken’s team as opinion editor.”

I was a member of The Register-Guard’s editorial department for a third of a century, including 20 years as editorial page editor. Early on, The R-G was pretty much the only game in town when it came to opinion journalism. Toward the end, our readers were drowning in opinions, with 500 cable channels, 5 million websites and online access to news and information services from around the world.

So why add to the rising tide of opinion already swirling around readers’ ankles? Because nearly all of what presents itself as opinion journalism today is self-serving, partisan, fact-free, unserious, time-wasting or just plain dreck. And despite the torrent of opinion on the web, there’s a drought of commentary and analysis about local matters. We aim to fill a void by providing a platform for comprehensive discussion of local civic affairs.   

Lookout Eugene-Springfield will be different, yet familiar. We will apply the principles of 20th-century American journalism to the digital age — principles of accuracy, accountability and above all fairness. We won’t ignore global and national events, but our overriding priority will be life in Lane County and Oregon.

I’ll be writing editorials — which I’ve always thought of as being more than just opinions, but as sets of facts structured to support opinions. We’ll have letters to the editor — lots of them, I hope. We’ll have guest columns written by local people with expertise, passion, knowledge and insight. We’ll set high standards for ourselves and our contributors. We’ll respect our readers’ intelligence.

Many people reading this newsletter were contributors to the pages I edited at The Register-Guard. I encourage them to renew that old partnership in this new venture. And I invite everyone to participate in the conversations and debates we’ll be hosting at Lookout Eugene-Springfield.

This is important work — social justice, clean government and community cohesion depend on journalism of the kind we intend to practice. I also intend to learn new things, meet new people and have fun. Join me. As we get rolling, you can write to me at jack@lookoutlocal.com, with your ideas.

Forging community connections

Amanda Coers, Lookout Eugene-Springfield’s Community & Student Engagement Manager, has been busy forging connections with key community organizations, aligning with Lookout’s mission to serve as a platform for community betterment. Recently, she met with the United Way of Lane County to explore its impactful work – work that resonates deeply with our Lookout in the Classroom initiatives. 

Amanda also connected with the Eugene Public Library Foundation and Friends of the Eugene Public Library, taking a tour of the downtown library to learn about the breadth of its services, from lending and seed libraries to hobby boxes for young patrons. Additionally, she attended a meeting hosted by the Asian American Council of Oregon in collaboration with the local NAACP chapter, emphasizing Lookout’s commitment to inclusivity and community collaboration.

Lookout Listens now scheduling

We told you about our Lookout Listens sessions for the first time in our previous newsletter, and the response was immediate. More than 50 of you signed up to participate – just talking in small groups with each other and a couple of Lookouters (sometimes including Jack) on the issues and coverage wants of our times.

If you’re interested, sign up here.

Chamber of Commerce Greeters

A key part of Lookout’s mission is understanding the needs of the business community so that we provide an effective marketing and brand building platform. One of the many ways that Lookout’s Advertising Sales Manager Morgana Dundon is doing this is through her work with the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber aims to empower local businesses in many ways, from events to community partnerships. 

Recently, Morgana began volunteering as a Chamber Greeter. The Greeters welcome businesses at an every Friday morning in-person meetup, where businesses connect with and support each other.

95 new contributors!

We’re still reeling from all the community support and generosity. Ninety-five locals have contributed $18,860 to a combination of our launch and Lookout in the Classroom initiatives. Thank you to all of them and our major donors, noted below. You are all not just making Lookout possible, but robust, at launch.

Thank you to our supporters!

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

Ken Doctor

Lookout Local CEO & Founder