Time to explore online news!

This marks the inaugural issue of Fort Atkinson Online LLC, a free website devoted to what’s happening in and around the greater Fort Atkinson area.

“Fort Atkinson is such a wonderful community and I look forward to sharing its stories with readers, said Kim McDarison, a longtime area journalist who created Fort Atkinson Online and serves as its reporter-publisher.

Most recently, she served as part-time city reporter for the Daily Jefferson County Union in Fort Atkinson. Prior to that, she was reporting part time for the Milton Courier.

McDarison said she launched Fort Atkinson Online to enhance the pool of local news content already available to area residents.

As the startup is free, it has no paid staff at this time. In addition to McDarison, Chris Spangler, former longtime managing editor of the Daily Jefferson County Union, is lending her expertise as a mentor.

“As subscribers continue to grow, I hope eventually to be able to monetize the website with paid advertising, as well as contributions,” McDarison said.

In the meantime, readers who enjoy and value the content are invited to show their support by making a donation.

Fort Atkinson Online will be adding and updating content daily, McDarison noted.

She encourages community members to send in their news items to her at kbrook@ix.netcom.com. In addition, persons with news tips and story ideas or who are interested in volunteering to write an article or column on a particular interest or topic may contact her at that email address.

Along with the website, Fort Atkinson Online has a Facebook page on which McDarison will be showcasing photos and commentary from readers. It is located at @FortAtkinsonOnline.

McDarison earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration, concentrating on management information systems, and minoring in journalism from Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Conn., in 1986.

As an Adams Publishing Group reporter and throughout her longtime freelance reporting career, McDarison’s stories and photographs have been published in such newspapers and on associated online offerings as The Janesville Gazette, DeForest Times-Tribune, Lake Mills Leader, The Courier (Waterloo), Cambridge News & Deerfield Independent, Watertown Daily Times, The Beloit Daily News, The Edgerton Reporter and the Walworth County Sunday, as well as the Daily Jefferson County Union and Milton Courier.

McDarison is a former editor of the Whitewater Register and The Westcountian, a regional newspaper covering the western portion of St. Louis County, Mo.

Her background also includes print public relations writing and photography. She is the author of a history book titled: Portrait of an American Town: Chesterfield, Mo.

McDarison has worked as a newspaper reporter in and around Danbury and Ridgefield, Conn., where she grew up. She has resided in Wisconsin with her family for 27 years on a small farm outside of Whitewater.

“I hope that the community is as excited about the launch of Fort Atkinson Online as I am,” McDarison said, adding that she encourages readers to spread the word about the new website. “I look forward to being an active part of the local media.”