What Lookout readers say is working and what needs to be improved

Last month, we asked all of you, our 48,000 Lookout community readers, to share your opinions and insights about the Lookout, the things we’re failing at, how we can improve and new story ideas.

Over 1,200  of you completed the survey, each completing over 35 questions. That’s the most responses we’ve ever had.

So what were the results? Let’s dive in.

Neighbourhood focus: The key takeaway is that you all want our journalism to have a neighbourhood focus — by far, it was the most significant trend in the survey, with 92 per cent of you agreeing there should be more stories focusing on neighbourhoods in Ottawa.

With the hollowing out of local journalism in Ottawa and Canada, many Ottawa neighbourhoods have very little coverage. We’ve tried to focus more on different areas of the city, but there is a whole lot more we can do.

Focusing on new information: Most of you value two things about our deeply reported journalism — unique insights and analysis that help you understand what’s going on and uncovering new information, whether through research, interviews or FOIs. 

• 68 per cent of you said new information, like investigative journalism, research and interviews, had to be a key part of our journalism. We agree, and while we’re already doing a lot, we believe we can do more of this.

Quality matters: Well, of course, quality matters! But to be clear, 65 per cent of you said higher quality stories matter more than a higher number of stories. This is excellent news, because as a small operation with only one full-time reporter, we just don’t have the resources to produce a massive number of stories. 

Quality also impacts perceptions: Tied to the quality, you also told us there are too many grammatical and spelling errors, distracting from the work. We hear you. We’re a small team, with only one journalist working full-time without the resources of bigger publications, but we can and must do better. We’ve got a plan, which we’ll share with you soon!

Hold elected officials accountable: Besides helping readers discover new things to do in the city, you also told us elected officials and those in power need to be held accountable through local journalism.

• Civic issues and city hall coverage have been at the heart of what we do, and it’s encouraging to hear you all say you want more of that.

The future of journalism is journalists: This one was one of the findings we were most happy about. By an overwhelming margin, 92 per cent of you don’t want us to use AI in our journalism. I can say, with zero hesitation, and no waffling, that here at the Lookout, the stories you read will never, ever be written by AI. Full stop.

• 76 per cent of you also said you love knowing that, unlike some of the bigger publications in Ottawa, the Lookout is owned by Canadians.

Connecting with the real world: People don’t just want to read our stories — many of you expressed a desire to meet new people, connect and attend real events in Ottawa, and that the Lookout should be a place to foster that.

• This is something we’ve wanted to do for a while, but now we feel a little more confident pursuing it.

But some bad news: The scale of our ambitions, and what our Lookout community wants us to do, is not possible with the current level of resources. Covering more neighbourhood stories, long-term investigations, and holding elected officials accountable all take more time and resources, which, with one full-time employee, we don’t have. 

What it means: As the founder of the Lookout, reading all of your responses makes me feel like we’re on the right track. And yet… There are some problems. Some of you have said the newsletter has gotten a bit long. We aren’t covering enough neighbourhood news. And many feel that grammar and spelling need to improve.

We’re finalizing a plan to improve all of this. We’re doing it because we deeply value our Lookout community and want to be the best source of local news in Ottawa. That includes a new, exciting deep dive series, which Charlie and I are just about to finalize.

In the meantime, thank you to the 1,200+ readers who completed our survey, and the 48,000 of you who read our newsletter. We’ve never been more excited to deliver you local, neighbourhood news in Ottawa.

Sincerely, 

Geoff, Charlie and Ralf, the Ottawa Lookout team