diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e34e4fe..119a0fb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ I became interested in creating a replacement for the existing daemon.
 * Safe : Written in a modern language that is type safe and performant
 * Fast : Never ever ever ever block if we can avoid it
 * Outputs json : Yay
-* Pluggable pipelines : Reports to syslog by default, but easily extended
+* Pluggable pipelines : Can write to syslog, local file, or stdout. Additional outputs are easily written. 
 * Connects to the linux kernel via netlink (info [here](https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git/tree/kernel/audit.c?id=refs/tags/v3.14.56) and [here](https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git/tree/include/uapi/linux/audit.h?h=linux-3.14.y))
 
 ## Usage
diff --git a/audit.go b/audit.go
index fb009a6..efbc7a5 100644
--- a/audit.go
+++ b/audit.go
@@ -97,6 +97,14 @@ func createOutput(config *viper.Viper) (*AuditWriter, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	if config.GetBool("output.stdout.enabled") == true {
+		i++
+		writer, err = createStdOutOutput(config)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
+
 	if i > 1 {
 		return nil, errors.New("Only one output can be enabled at a time")
 	}
@@ -185,6 +193,20 @@ func createFileOutput(config *viper.Viper) (*AuditWriter, error) {
 	return NewAuditWriter(f, attempts), nil
 }
 
+func createStdOutOutput(config *viper.Viper) (*AuditWriter, error) {
+	attempts := config.GetInt("output.stdout.attempts")
+	if attempts < 1 {
+		return nil, errors.New(
+			fmt.Sprintf("Output attempts for stdout must be at least 1, %v provided", attempts),
+		)
+	}
+
+	// l logger is no longer stdout
+	l.SetOutput(os.Stderr)
+
+	return NewAuditWriter(os.Stdout, attempts), nil
+}
+
 func createFilters(config *viper.Viper) []AuditFilter {
 	var err error
 	var ok bool
@@ -272,12 +294,13 @@ func main() {
 		el.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
-	if err := setRules(config, lExec); err != nil {
+	// output needs to be created before anything that write to stdout
+	writer, err := createOutput(config)
+	if err != nil {
 		el.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
-	writer, err := createOutput(config)
-	if err != nil {
+	if err := setRules(config, lExec); err != nil {
 		el.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
diff --git a/audit_test.go b/audit_test.go
index f63b5bb..b31cab2 100644
--- a/audit_test.go
+++ b/audit_test.go
@@ -207,6 +207,23 @@ func Test_createSyslogOutput(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.IsType(t, &syslog.Writer{}, w.w)
 }
 
+func Test_createStdOutOutput(t *testing.T) {
+	// attempts error
+	c := viper.New()
+	c.Set("output.stdout.attempts", 0)
+	w, err := createStdOutOutput(c)
+	assert.EqualError(t, err, "Output attempts for stdout must be at least 1, 0 provided")
+	assert.Nil(t, w)
+
+	// All good
+	c = viper.New()
+	c.Set("output.stdout.attempts", 1)
+	w, err = createStdOutOutput(c)
+	assert.Nil(t, err)
+	assert.NotNil(t, w)
+	assert.IsType(t, &os.File{}, w.w)
+}
+
 func Test_createOutput(t *testing.T) {
 	// no outputs
 	c := viper.New()
@@ -265,6 +282,14 @@ func Test_createOutput(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.EqualError(t, err, "Output attempts for file must be at least 1, 0 provided")
 	assert.Nil(t, w)
 
+	// stdout error
+	c = viper.New()
+	c.Set("output.stdout.enabled", true)
+	c.Set("output.stdout.attempts", 0)
+	w, err = createOutput(c)
+	assert.EqualError(t, err, "Output attempts for stdout must be at least 1, 0 provided")
+	assert.Nil(t, w)
+
 	// All good syslog
 	c = viper.New()
 	c.Set("output.syslog.attempts", 1)
diff --git a/go-audit.yaml.example b/go-audit.yaml.example
index 590910d..ce2bf71 100644
--- a/go-audit.yaml.example
+++ b/go-audit.yaml.example
@@ -26,13 +26,19 @@ message_tracking:
 # Configure where to output audit events
 # Only 1 output can be active at a given time
 output:
-  # Writes logs to syslog
-  syslog:
+  # Writes to stdout
+  # All program status logging will be moved to stderr
+  stdout:
     enabled: true
 
-    # Total number of attempts to send a message before considering the syslog server gone
+    # Total number of attempts to write a line before considering giving up
     # If a write fails go-audit will sleep for 1 second before retrying
-    # default is 3
+    # Default is 3
+    attempts: 2
+
+  # Writes logs to syslog
+  syslog:
+    enabled: false
     attempts: 5
 
     # Configure the type of socket this should be, default is unixgram
@@ -54,9 +60,6 @@ output:
   # Appends logs to a file
   file:
     enabled: false
-
-    # Total number of attempts to write a line before considering giving up
-    # If a write fails go-audit will sleep for 1 second before retrying
     attempts: 2
 
     # Path of the file to write lines to