Lookout to add business and tech reporter through Report for America program
Quick Take
Neil Strebig will join Lookout next month to cover Santa Cruz County’s burgeoning business and tech community. He comes to California from the York Daily Record in York, Pennsylvania.
A Pennsylvania journalist who has covered everything from food and e-sports to business and government is joining Lookout Santa Cruz through Report for America, a national program that — like Lookout — aims to fill the void caused by a collapse in local news coverage.
Neil Strebig will begin covering the business and technology beat in Santa Cruz County starting May 17. He comes to Lookout from the York Daily Record in York, Pennsylvania, where he’s worked since 2018.
Strebig’s byline also has appeared in numerous Pennsylvania publications, including Pittsburgh Magazine. Before going into journalism, he worked as a chef.
Strebig is among some 300 journalists to be accepted into Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. It is an initiative of The GroundTruth Project, a nonprofit journalism organization.
Support Lookout and RFA
Report for America leverages a unique funding match model, paying half of a corps member’s salary, while encouraging and supporting its local news partners to contribute one-quarter, and local and regional funders to contribute the final quarter. Funders interested in making tax-deductible contributions to support Neil Strebig’s position at Lookout should reach out to Ken Doctor directly at ken@lookoutlocal.com.
Lookout, RFA announced Tuesday, is among more than 200 news organizations to be part of the program, which includes legacy newspaper companies like The Arizona Republic, The Sacramento Bee and Chicago Sun-Times to digital-only news organizations like the Long Beach Post and The Colorado Sun.
“We are proud to be a part of RFA, and are the youngest news organization to get a slot,” said Ken Doctor, Lookout’s founder and CEO. “We welcome Neil to the largest— and still growing news team in the county. This is a year of unprecedented challenge and opportunity, as the county recovers ecomically. Lookout and Neil look forward to telling those stories fully.”
RFA has a goal of placing 1,000 journalists with various news organizations by 2024.
“We know that the biggest global challenges of our time — like equitable health care, the impact of climate change, and affordable housing — will require trusted, local public service journalism if we are to come together to solve them,” said Charles Sennott, Report for America co-founder and GroundTruth CEO.