A Valley politician is starting a new venture.

Harrisonburg Mayor Kai Degner is launching an Internet news business called the Harrisonburg Times.

Degner would be part of the editorial board, with a role in shaping the content of the site.

However, a question comes up on whether or not there is a conflict of interest from an elected official launching this kind of business.

"To have another media source that is more in line with what I think is the mainstream opinion out there and represents more of the mainstream values in Harrisonburg, is what we're doing with the Harrisonburg Times," says Degner.

Degner says the site is for profit.

People in the community can volunteer to write or contribute in other ways to the new news organization.

The site will include news and commentary about politics, education and many other things.

"I can't be compromising my trust with the city staff or council members or anything like that," says Degner.

Degner says he recognizes potential concerns about the site.

Kelly McBride teaches journalism ethics at the Poynter Institute, a nationally recognized school and resource for journalists.

"There's a significant conflict of interest, that he clearly is one of the powerful in [Harrisonburg]. And one of the jobs of journalism is to hold the powerful accountable," says McBride.

Al Tompkins, an expert in broadcast and Internet journalism at Poynter, says the main things that he would be concerned about are if this project were to involve city employees or tax money. Degner says it involves neither of those things.

Steven Anderson, director of James Madison University's School of Media Arts and Design, says, "People are going to ask that question, which is, 'Is this independent? And is it news, or is it a political message put out by the mayor of the town?'"

Degner outlines several concerns he has about existing mainstream media serving the Valley.

A Democrat, Degner says he's concerned about the editorial page of "The Daily News-Record."

In his first post on the news Website, Degner writes, "The editorial stance of 'The Daily News-Record' diverges more and more from the values and opinions of the bulk of Harrisonburg-Rockingham residents. For all the good the DNR does to inform the public on local issues, its ultraconservative stance is offending and alienating a growing population of people."

He says the online comment sections on the DN-R and WHSV Websites are "largely unmoderated and have become havens for reactionary, unthoughtful, and ignorant commentary from a relatively few people that incites useless argument."

So that begs the question, "Is Harrisonburg Times the solution?"

Degner says, "Well, I understand there are many legitimate concerns about what this is all about. So, the best I can tell people is to stay tuned. Obviously, we're going to bring a certain value set to what we report and the editorials that we write."

Degner says he aims to have "new content on a regular basis" on the site by April 15.