Lookout unveils ‘Covid 2021,’ including new COVID PM newsletter and COVID Text Alerts
Today, Lookout Santa Cruz launches COVID 2021. Building on Lookout’s broad and deep coverage of the pandemic, COVID 2021 marks a comprehensive commitment to cover the widening questions and solutions related to the coronavirus, with two new, free, easy-to-access products to make this coverage more accessible than ever, along with the introduction of public health forums later this month.
From vaccine availability to public health impacts to economic dislocation, Lookout’s growing newsroom staff of nine aggressively covers the issues, with a strong commitment to quickly, and factually, answering reader concerns.
“Readers will see the Covid 2021 logo prominently on Lookout’s website — both on their phones and desktops — and in the popular ‘Morning Lookout’ newsletter,” said Chris Fusco, Lookout’s executive editor. “In addition, we’re now making reader access to everything they want and need to know even easier, with our Covid PM afternoon newsletter and Covid Text Alerts.”
Both the Covid PM newsletter and Covid Text Alerts are free to the public. Mark Conley, Lookout’s deputy managing editor, drives the new products.
“Every afternoon, we’ll sum up what we know — and what we are still reporting on — to give our readers the freshest, most up-to-date news and actionable information we can,” said Conley. “And we’ll continue to ask for and answer the many questions that tumble out of this ongoing public health nightmare.”
Readers can access either or both of the products instantly:
- Readers can sign up for the Covid PM newsletter here. All current email newsletter subscribers are already opted in to COVID PM newsletter and will begin receiving it immediately.
- Readers can sign up for Covid Text Alerts here, or by texting “Covid” to (831) 508-7534. By simply sharing a mobile phone number, readers will get texts in the message app on their phones. The Covid Text Alerts offering includes daily afternoon texts, and breaking Covid news text alerts, as the news dictates.
“We know that readers value newsletters in general, and they’ve really taken to our Morning Lookout newsletter, written by Tulsi Kamath, our managing editor,” said Ken Doctor, Lookout’s founder and CEO. “Readers in other communities have also taken to new text products — so quickly delivered and easily accessed — and we believe Covid 2021 offers the most timely use of this new innovation.”
“We’re a membership-driven news company, and have been overwhelmed by so much early member support in our first seven weeks. At the same time, let me be clear that access to both Covid PM products is free of charge.”
Lookout’s full news staff — including Managing Editor Tulsi Kamath, Fusco and Conley; correspondents Wallace Baine, Isabella Cueto, Nick Ibarra, Mallory Pickett and Pat Riley; as well as visual journalism contributor Kevin Painchaud — will devote time to Covid 2021, even as Lookout covers all the other news and events vital to people throughout Santa Cruz County.
Covid 2021’s central page details the breadth of the expanded coverage, detailing these Covid 2021 sections:
- Covid Today: The center our Covid 2021 coverage
- Covid PM newsletter and text: Afternoon sum-ups and takeaways
- Vaccine Watch: What we know, up to the minute
- Pandemic Life: Who is helping us through this and what toll has it taken?
- Covid South County: Where the toll has been greatest
- Covid Economy: Eye on recovery
- Covid K-12: Education impacts
- Ask Lookout: Readers’ questions answered.
Finally, Lookout, in partnership with Event Santa Cruz, hosts the first of a series of public health forums, on Jan. 21. “Covid 2021: The Experts Answer Your Questions”, hosted by Chris Fusco and Mallory Pickett, will focus on the pandemic’s health toll in the county. Already scheduled to participate are: Gail Newel, Santa Cruz County’s health officer and Marm Kilpatrick, UC Santa Cruz’s nationally known epidemiologist, with additional panelists to be announced soon.
For the first time, we’ll offer simultaneous Spanish interpretation, through a separate Zoom audio channel. The 6 p.m. event is free to attend. Register here.