Don Shelby has joined BringMeTheNews, a Minneapolis-based company that aggregates news from throughout Minnesota and distributes it via online, social media, and radio outlets.

Shelby retired from his longtime role as a WCCO news anchor in 2010 and has most recently been writing a weekly blog for MinnPost.com. He left that role Tuesday to join BringMeTheNews, and he will begin anchoring radio newscasts and developing news stories for the company on April 4.

Shelby and BringMeTheNews founder Rick Kupchella discussed the move in an exclusive interview with Twin Cities Business. View the video below.

In his new role, Shelby will give BringMeTheNews' morning radiocasts, which are aired on a network of more than 30 radio stations across Minnesota. He will also produce original news reports weekly for BringMeTheNews.com on a variety of subjects, including energy and climate change.

Shelby will also host a segment called “Shelby Shares.” Until April 30, BringMeTheNews is accepting written pitches or YouTube videos from schools, chambers of commerce, city councils, community and business organizations, nonprofits, and individuals to be considered as subjects to be covered by Shelby.

“Anyone who doesn't think that digital platforms are a boon to great journalism has been asleep-and I wanted to be a part of that, because I knew that the future was going to be in digital,” Shelby told Twin Cities Business.

“I know how to tell stories, I know how to find out the information, and I know how to report them,” he added. “So this opportunity is not just down my alley-it's something that I've been hoping would happen to me for a long time.”

Kupchella, a longtime KARE11 anchor and reporter, founded BringMeTheNews in 2009. In late 2010, the start-up landed a $1 million investment from The Dolan Company and PR firm Padilla Speer Beardsley.

BringMeTheNews' current funding model is based on advertising sponsorships. Advertiser logos appear near sponsored headlines, which are mixed in with news stories on the company's website. The company also supplies an online feed of its aggregated headlines to other media partners.

Kupchella said that the hiring of Shelby illustrates his company's desire to produce original news stories, and the company is looking at ways to adjust it business model to fund investigative reporting.

In addition to Shelby and Kupchella, BringMeTheNews' roster includes other local journalists and broadcasters, including Eric Perkins, Joe Nelson, and William Wilcoxen.

“We have in our newsroom about a dozen journalists who have 170 years of experience in this market as reporters,” Kupchella said. “With the opportunity to bring on Don, now we go to about 300 years,” he added with a laugh.

Learn more about Shelby's new role at BringMeTheNews by clicking here.