Showing up beats scale: what Lookout Local gets right about building modern local news
Lookout Local shows how sustainable local news can thrive: invest in journalists, engage the community, drive membership with newsletters and apps, and keep advertising direct and local.
When Lookout Local launched in Eugene, Oregon, it went from zero to 1m page views and roughly a third of adult reach in under six months, off a fully digital, community-newspaper proposition powered by a 19-person team, relentless in-person engagement, and a straightforward reader-revenue + direct-sold ads mix. Membership accounts for around half of revenue; the app and newsletters do the heavy lifting on engagement and conversion. The lesson is unfashionable but effective: show up.
The model: a “community newspaper” that happens to be digital
Lookout describes itself, plainly, as a community newspaper only without print. That framing matters: breadth over niche, service over slogans, and a front-door navigation that mirrors what good local papers used to do (civics, schools, housing, sport, opinion, food). The cultural overhead of print is nil; the money goes where readers notice, into journalists.
People first: 75% of spend is on people (mostly journalists), versus the 12–20% legacy newsrooms used to devote to news staff. It shows in output and trust.
Digital only, on purpose: No print distraction; an operating tempo that matches digital demand.
The Eugene test: fast ramp, simple funnel
Eugene launched on 10 April 2023. Four to six months later: ~1m page views, ~15% monthly growth, and reach of ~33% of local adults off a team of 19. In Santa Cruz, Lookout says it now touches ~60% of adults monthly. The conversion pathway is intentionally basic: visit → free newsletter → paid membership “a couple of months later.” It’s not rocket science; it’s consistent execution.
Critically, the app multiplies consumption—users read 6–12× more via app than browser—so Lookout launched with an app from day one in Eugene. Newsletters remain the top-of-funnel workhorse; neighbourhood (hyper-local) editions are assembled with AI to scale relevance.
Membership contributes roughly 50–55% of revenue; the rest is principally direct-sold local advertising. In Santa Cruz, a Pulitzer for breaking news on the 2023 floods catalysed another membership step-change, reinforcing the point that distinctive reporting is the most reliable growth lever.
Distribution and product: breadth, then specificity
Full-service coverage builds daily habit (councils, boards, schools, homelessness, housing, changing-the-city series, opinion). Think wide first; go deep where the community aches.
Apps + newsletters form the consumption spine; AI helps normalise public data into ultra-local neighbourhood briefs. Spanish-language publishing is expanding.
Audio/video are growing parts of the mix; short-form social is treated as brand, not a traffic hose. (Automation for X/Bluesky; higher-touch on Instagram where community signals are richer.)
Revenue: keep it local, keep it clean
Lookout shuns programmatic clutter in favour of direct-sold local placements that reflect the market’s storefronts and institutions. Sponsored content is used sparingly (e.g., real-estate round-ups). A job board monetises and serves the community; obituaries may follow. The brand stays coherent because ad creative is local and relevant.
Philanthropy underwrote launch risk; the strategy is to move briskly to earned revenue. With operating playbooks now templated (Newspack/WordPress stack; integrated workflows), Lookout targets three more sites over three years and is advising peers ready to expand.
Community engine: “Lookout Listens”
This is the part many publishers skip. Lookout runs programmatic, small-group gatherings, members, local leaders, sector cohorts (e.g., restaurateurs)—to swap context and surface coverage needs. Done weekly with 10–12 people, the compounding word-of-mouth is substantial, the editorial intelligence immediate, the cost minimal (a room, light refreshments, two staffers). It sounds quaint; it works.
The offices are downtown by design. Reporters attend meetings, walk the high street, get recognised. In an era obsessed with distribution hacks, proximity is the underrated moat.
What to copy (and what to ignore)
Copy:
Over-invest in reporters, not tooling. Tooling enables; journalism converts.
Make the app a day-one asset. Your heaviest readers will read multiples more if you give them a proper container.
Run a visible events cadence. Treat “Listens”-style gatherings as a weekly growth channel and an editorial radar.
Keep advertising direct and local. Protect the brand surface; build a jobs product early.
Use AI for data normalisation and micro-products, not as a journalist replacement. Neighbourhood newsletters are a sensible start.
Ignore:
Vanity social metrics. Treat social as brand and sourcing; don’t burn cycles chasing click-backs that never come.
One-size-fits-all franchising. The playbook travels; the coverage must be local from first principles.
A pragmatic checklist for UK publishers
Define a three-step funnel: visit → free newsletter → membership. Instrument it; report it weekly.
Stand up an app; identify your 1,000 heaviest readers and push them there.
Launch two hyper-local newsletters using AI-assisted data pipes (planning, transport, weather incidents, council alerts).
Book 40 “Listens” sessions over the next 12 months; publish outcomes.
Keep ads direct and local; ship a jobs product by Q2.Risks and open questions
Hiring at speed is hard, particularly when importing talent to a new city. Execution, not the spreadsheet, decides outcomes. Politically “purple” markets remain an open question, Lookout’s view is that rigorously non-partisan, problem-solving local coverage should travel, but the team mix, community ties and funding runway will matter more in those markets. And while social presence is expected, the time-to-traffic ROI is thin; automation and clear rules of engagement help.
This article was written after attending a WAN IFRA webinar presented by Ken Doctor & Ashley Harmon
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