Many in the news industry know Ken Doctor for the advice he has offered in a multitude of conference presentations and as a consultant.
But for the past five years, he has been “putting his money where his mouth is” with a growing series of digital publications.
In a report for WAN-Ifra, Cecilia Campbell says Doctor had been “itching to prove that it was possible to launch a digital only local news outlet with the traditional newspaper’s role of being a hub for the local community, while leveraging and benefiting from everything it means to be digital – including no legacy overheads, and being able to reach people in so many more ways, among them through newsletters, multimedia and apps, while keeping a sharp focus on showing up in and for the local community.
Some measure of his success is that the first Lookout Local site, launched in Santa Cruz in November 2020, won a Pulitzer in its fourth year of operation. Lookout Eugene-Springfield – Lookout Local’s second site among a near-term buildout of five sites – won large audiences and early and enthusiastic member support after more than a year of community building.
What makes the Lookout model – ‘a good community newspaper that happens to be digital’ – tick, and what differentiates it from the hundreds of startups proliferating across the US?
Doctor answered some of those questions with a presentation offering “actionable ideas” from Lookout Local’s success.
The list includes its integrated tech stack, diversified revenue models, deep school programmes and thorough community engagement – all supporting one another – which have made a difference, as do the very non-remote, in-person downtown-based operations.
Thanks to the ground work done in Santa Cruz – including getting the tech stack up and running smoothly – the launch of the second site, Lookout Eugene-Springfield, on April 10 this year, has seen a ramp-up three-to-five times faster than for Santa Cruz.
More sites are planned by the end of 2026.
Doctor says the ability to move very quickly is a critical differentiator, “and having done consulting and still talking to a lot of people throughout the industry, I know the inability to move quickly has really hampered our industry across the world,” he says. “We have a singular focus.”
The genesis of Lookout Local needs to be seen in the context of what is going on in the US local news industry more broadly. “It’s well known that local newspapers in America have shut down at an alarming rate since the mid-00s.
“Now, however there’s a trend of new, and existing local news publishers expanding into underserved communities across the country. The Google News Initiative and the Knight Ridder Foundation both support many of these (see map).
Doctor says that the Eugene, Oregon, daily paper, the Register-Guard was highly regarded, “really the best independent paper in the state by far and one of the best in the country”.
Before its sale to Gatehouse Media in 2018 (which subsequently bought Gannett and took that group’s name in 2019), the Register-Guard had 80 reporters; by 2024 that number was just six, and there’s no longer a local editor.
“What that created was both a crater of local news, a lack of local news. And also a market opportunity for us,” Doctor said.
Crucially, he noted, at Lookout Local, 75 per cent of expenses go to staff – key for showing up for the local community.
“During my years as an industry analyst, I figured out that no more than 20 per cent – and usually 12-15 per cent of a newspaper company’s expenses actually went to paying people in the newsroom,” he said.
“While we are wholly digital in terms of publishing, being in touch with people is a huge part of our strategy.”
The week of his presentation, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution “really surprised a lot of people” by being the first major metro newspaper in the US to announce it will stop all print publishing by the end of the year, “and I think we’re going to see that trend accelerate within the next two years,” Doctor said.
Video of the WAN-Ifra webinar is available, as well as a post on the Innovate Local website. These are the ‘actionable ideas”:
- Build multi-channel reach (apps + newsletters + social)
Lookout Local found that readers engage 6-12x more via an app than on the browser, so they invest heavily in app development. They supplement this with general + neighbourhood newsletters (using AI to make them hyperlocal) and curated social media.
The newsletters and social media act to fill the top of funnel, while the app is for paying members – a hybrid model.
Action: Develop an app (even a lightweight one) and diversify distribution and fill the top of funnel through targetted newsletters and curated social, not just a website.
- Deepen community engagement with in-person connections
Lookout Local runs community forums on elections, housing, and local issues, livestreaming for broader reach. Reporters physically show up in communities, hold ‘Lookout Listens’ feedback sessions, and keep offices downtown as accessible community hubs.
Action: Host regular in-person forums and feedback sessions, and make the newsroom physically visible in the community.
3. Expand access through schools & teachers
The ‘Lookout in the classroom’ initiative provides free memberships for students, plus teacher-facing support (guides, visits, workshops). They fund this through foundations and donor support.
Action: Partner with schools/teachers to embed local news into education and grow the next generation of readers.
- Use partnerships for brand growth & revenue
Lookout Local runs a ‘civic partner programme’: nonprofits promote Lookout in their channels; in return, Lookout gives them visibility and ad support. They also raised US$1 million (A$1.51 million) locally through grassroots donor organising, then matched it with national philanthropy.
Action: Formalise reciprocal partnerships with nonprofits and local organisations, and mobilise community fundraising as part of launch/growth.
- Leverage AI for unique hyperlocal products
Lookout Local uses AI to quickly assemble neighbourhood newsletters from public data (permits, roadwork, inspections, crime reports, weather, events). This gives them a distinctive product readers love (68 per cent open rates), without replacing reporters.
Action: Use AI to scale repetitive, data-heavy products (e.g., hyperlocal newsletters) while keeping human oversight for editorial quality.
–WAN-Ifra/Cecilia Campbell with thanks
Pictured: Ken Doctor (left) with the Lookout Santa Cruz team and their Pulitzer prize
Comments