Wilson, Welch agree to assist Lookout Eugene-Springfield staff

Under the category of everything old is new again, two of The Register-Guard’s most talented and highly respected journalists — Jackman Wilson and Bob Welch — have agreed to lend a hand to publisher Ken Doctor’s soon-to-launch Lookout Eugene-Springfield digital newspaper.

Bob has agreed to write a column that will appear in the online paper twice a month. Jack will advise and consult on content for Lookout Eugene-Springfield’s editorial pages.

Bob worked at The R-G from 1989 to 2013. He was twice honored by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists for best column. He’s the author of more than two dozen books, including “The Wizard of Foz” (Track & Field Writers of America’s 2019 Book of the Year) and “American Nightingale,” an Oregon Book Award finalist that was featured on ABC TV’s “Good Morning America” program. He also writes a Substack column titled “Heart, Humor & Hope.”

A 1976 graduate of the UO, Bob has been an adjunct professor at the university’s School of Journalism and Communication. He founded the Beachside Writers Workshop in Yachats and, as a speaker, has keynoted conferences across the United States. 

Jack will advise the newspaper’s Community Voices section, which will include letters to the editor, local columns and editorials. In announcing Jack’s new role, Doctor lauded his extensive journalistic experience and described him as an “honest broker and fair human being dedicated to the betterment of Lane County.”

Jack spent 33 years on The Register-Guard’s editorial page staff, including the final 18 as its editor. He retired in 2018 after the Baker family sold The R-G to GateHouse, which later merged with Gannett. A 1977 graduate of the University of Oregon, he worked at The Bulletin in Bend and the Gazette-Times in Corvallis before joining The R-G in 1985.

Lookout Eugene-Springfield staff are currently setting up their office at 771 Willamette St., about a half-block south of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts. Desks, chairs and cubicle partitions will be familiar to many R-G retirees because they once furnished the newspaper’s offices at 3500 Chad Drive. The surplus office furnishings were donated or sold to Doctor at bargain prices by the Baker family.

Bob said he decided to accept Doctor’s offer to join the Lookout staff “because I believe in local journalism, believe in Lookout’s community-first approach and delight in the chance to be part of what I think could be a historic resurgence of news and opinion for Lane County. My pledge to readers is to add insight into what makes us uniquely ‘us’ and to cut back on my sports metaphors — a little.”

Jack said he will be “helping the person in charge of the opinion section get started and sharing with everyone my fast-diminishing store of knowledge about who’s who in Eugene and Lane County. That role suits me fine.”

He and Doctor had initially discussed Jack taking on a full-time position as opinion editor but he said after careful reconsideration, he decided assisting Lookout Eugene-Springfield part time would fit better with his retirement from full-time journalism.

“Lookout will be better off with someone eager to prove himself, more skilled in using digital tools and with more gas in the tank,” he said. “I’ve offered to assist Ken with his venture in any way, except for taking a paid position requiring content production.

“Everything I’ve seen and heard has left me convinced that Ken and those around him understand that robust editorials, letters and guest columns will be vital to Lookout Eugene-Springfield’s success.”

Jack described The R-G’s editorial pages under his and previous editors’ leadership as “a place where conservatives and liberals of every stripe could have conversations, and they’d be moderated in a way that would keep them civil,” and as “a place where a grandmother in Veneta and a teaching fellow at the UO could talk to each other.”

Noting that today’s readers are “drowning in opinions, with 500 cable channels, 5 million websites and online access to news and information services from around the world,” he asked, “why add to the rising tide of opinion already swirling around readers’ ankles?”

“Because nearly all of what presents itself as opinion journalism today is self-serving, partisan, fact-free, unserious, time-wasting or just plain dreck,” he said. “And despite the torrent of opinion on the web, there’s a drought of commentary and analysis about local matters. We aim to fill that void by providing a platform for comprehensive discussion of local civic affairs.”

Doctor said readers should watch for more updates on Lookout Eugene-Springfield’s launch funding, hiring and community engagement events, which will include “Lookout Listens” public forums. Those who are interested can sign up for his newsletter at https://lookouteugene-springfield.com/.

— Lloyd Paseman and Donovan Mack