McGlashen and Gillies originally met as students in MSU’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, and they used the tools they learned there to launch michiganrivernews.com.

The uniqueness of the concept is what McGlashen thinks makes Michigan River News stand out.

“We’re the only ones writing just about Michigan rivers, which is a narrow focus, but we think it’s the right focus,” he said. “There are 36,000 miles worth of rivers in Michigan. … As we started to look more at it, there’s a heck of a lot going on that isn’t being thoroughly reported.”

The website, which launched on June 15, works to combine original content created by McGlashen and Gillies with news from outside sources about Michigan’s rivers in an attempt to become an extensive source on the subject.

The benefit to greater knowledge on rivers in a water-rich state such as Michigan is substantial, assistant professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Dana Infante said, because they integrate all of the area’s aquatic systems.

Infante specializes in rivers and said she never had heard of a news source devoted exclusively to Michigan rivers.

“I definitely would love to learn more about it,” she said. “There’s stuff happening in Michigan rivers that I didn’t know about, so I’m curious.”

The exciting thing about Michigan River News for Knight Center Associate Director David Poulson is how different the website is from other online news sources.

“The thing that we really try hard to put into our students is the responsibility of public-service journalism,” Poulson said. “That it is indeed a calling, and that it informs society and makes society better.”

With McGlashen graduating from the Knight Center in 2009 and Gillies in 2011, both are balancing their work on the website with full-time day jobs.

McGlashen currently works for the Michigan Environmental Council as a development associate, while Gillies works in communications at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.

“(Balancing the two jobs is) extremely hard,” Gillies said. “My day is pretty packed and I have an hour-and-a-half commute, so contacting sources during the day is pretty tough.”

Both Gillies and McGlashen view the site as more of a hobby than a job, but they do hope to sell advertising in the future to turn a slight profit.

“I don’t see myself ever quitting my day job for Michigan River News, and that’s okay,” he said. “We want it to be a trusted source that people who are interested in fishing, canoeing or Michigan’s environment more broadly turn to for news.”