Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.
Long, long ago in the 1970s, before the time of ubiquitous internet and social media, there was a little alternative newspaper in Eugene, Oregon, called the Willamette Valley Observer. It was a feisty publication determined to report community news from a different point of view from the mainstream city paper. The staff was super smart, hardworking and underpaid – definitely a feisty crew. The editor and major propellent of the organization was the fearless, tireless Ken Doctor.
Needless to say this was an impossible financial scenario. I know because I sold advertising for the paper, and that was tough to say the least. Print media was marginally profitable even then. Eventually, the paper folded and we all went our separate ways.
I didn’t know about Lookout until this morning, when NPR aired the Pulitzer Prize interview with Ken. I can’t overstate the elation I feel knowing that his career has come full circle with success at what was once doomed to fail. Community news is so important and it’s trickling down the drain as traditional print organizations disappear. This gives me hope.
Congratulations to all of you. You have the best of all fearless, tireless leaders.
Cathy Simard
Eugene, Oregon