About

Welcome to Michigan River News, a source of original reporting on the water flowing through the state’s cities, forests and farms.

We’re Jeff Brooks Gillies and Andy McGlashen, co-founders of Michigan River News. Both lifelong Michiganders, we cut our reporting teeth at the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University.

With our journalism training and love for Michigan, we feel called to learn more about the issues facing our state’s environment and bring that news to a wider public. But Michigan’s a big place where abundant natural resources face a wide range of threats, and there are only two of us. We can’t cover everything, so we’ll limit our coverage to rivers.

Why rivers?

First, rivers sustain and enrich human life. They provide food and drinking water. They irrigate crops and generate electric power. Looking for a good place to canoe, fish or just relax? It’s hard to beat a river for that.

We also think news about rivers is important because a stream is only as healthy as the land it flows through. We may be limiting our reporting to rivers, but that coverage will inherently reflect the quality of the wider environment.

We expect that running Michigan River News will be hard work, a lot of fun and likely unprofitable. That last point means we’ll have full-time jobs outside of the site. Though our employers have a stake in the management of Michigan’s natural resources, they won’t have any influence over the content of Michigan River News. We’re trained journalists versed in objectivity, balance and verification.

Trackback URI.