Sheer hubris is the only explanation for launching this website. There is no Michigan Online News Association (MONA), at least not yet. This is an attempt to make that idea a reality.

I am Bonnie Bucqueroux of Lansing Online News (LON) and other online ventures and adventures. Our publication is one of many attempts to invent the future of online journalism that have been cropping up around the state. Our approach is to engage citizen journalists, offer lots of multimedia and experiment with giving cash-strapped advertisers the chance to pay us in goods and services that we can translate into “Digi-Dollars” for our contributors. (That’s our 20-second elevator pitch to the Knight News Challenge in the hope they will give us the funds to develop online software to share.)

But we recognize that no one has a patent on the best ideas for news online. Talented folks in other places are exploring different strategies and ideas. We want to become the place where people share information and advice about what they are learning.

My plan with MONA is to recruit my colleagues from LON and other online news producers from around the state to use this site to post about what we are learning about this new news environment. It is a space we can all use to share tips about tech and techniques. We can also use it to identify examples of excellence and well-meaning failures, including lessons learned. Or just to sound off.

Please email me at lansingonline@gmail.com if you would like to become a contributor.