Welcome to The Lookout

Welcome to The Lookout, a new Yahoo! News blog focused on the stories that matter most for America.

OK, we know you're not exactly starved for choice in online news coverage. Do you really need another site that's going to make it even harder to get any work done?

Yes, you do, and here's why: At The Lookout, we'll go beyond what's driving the cable-news chatter of the day, to break down the issues that actually affect Americans' lives -- and we'll do it in a lively, accessible way. Despite all the bazillions of news options out there, that's not something easy to find on the Internet.

Among the questions we'll set out to answer: How is the Great Recession rattling cities, suburbs and rural areas across the country? What's the government doing to get the economy going again, and is it likely to work? How are divisive issues such as gay rights, immigration and religious freedom playing out in our common life? Are our schools preparing students to face the challenges of the 21st century? How's the Gulf Coast dealing with the ongoing effects of the BP oil spill? How do we combat global warming without hurting the economy? Can we fight terrorism and keep the country safe while staying true to American values? And what are we doing to stay competitive -- in economic, educational and military terms -- with a host of rising world powers?

Don't worry, though -- it won't all be deadly serious. In the past, we've enjoyed telling you about freakishly nondegradable McDonald's Happy Meals, the Chilean miner who danced on Letterman, and the American soldiers in Afghanistan making their own Lady Gaga video. The American scene never lacks for absurdity, and The Lookout will make a point of highlighting our foibles as well as our policy priorities.

We plan to have plenty of original reporting that you won't find anywhere else online. But because this is a blog, we're also constantly monitoring what's coming out elsewhere. We'll point you to the best of the day's fresh reporting on the Web, and break it down for you, always stressing what the latest stories mean for the country as a whole, not just for the next day's news cycle.

Who are we? Until earlier this year, I was a reporter at Talking Points Memo, the award-winning political site, where I wrote about everything from the financial crisis to the tea party movement. I've also worked at the Washington Monthly and Columbia Journalism Review. At The Lookout, I'll dig into issues like the economy and national security.

Brett Michael Dykes has worked previously at Gawker, and since way back in 2009, he's been blogging for Yahoo! News. Brett is now based in New Orleans, where he grew up; he's covered the Gulf of Mexico oil spill about as closely as any reporter out there. He'll continue to do that, as well as taking on other environmental issues. Brett also has an eye for those wacky, offbeat or just plain hilarious stories that no one can resist.

And Liz Goodwin, who came to Yahoo! from the Daily Beast, will focus on hot-button issues such as gay rights, abortion, immigration and religion, as well as the debate over education reform. She has also worked at GothamSchools, a leading New York education website, and the Tico Times, an English-language newspaper in Costa Rica.

Of course, none of this would work without you, our readers. So we'll be counting on you to tell us what you think in comments and emails, to let us know about compelling stories we might have overlooked--and, of course, to keep us honest.

These are complicated, confusing times for our country and our world -- and we won't ever pretend we have all the answers. But we're excited about the chance to ask the right questions and to help make sense of what's happening out there. We look forward to having you join us.

(Photo: AP/J. Scott Applewhite)