Location: Phoenix
Focus: “Hard news in the public interest from metro Phoenix”
Started:
Employees/Writers: Nick R. Martin, founder & freelance journalist, former East Valley Tribune reporter; accepts volunteer contribution writing
Donation funded: $1,022 as of June 1, 2009
Site: heatcity.org, web only
From About Us page, Nick Martin:
I started HEAT CITY as a place where my friends in journalism and I could help cover stories that the major local media outlets are not covering. The work here is totally free, though I do provide the option for you to donate a little money to keep original, independent journalism alive in Arizona. Mostly, you’ll get original reporting on HEAT CITY, a rare sight from independent bloggers in Arizona.
Sample stories: “Playboy lures CEO away from company that owns [East Valley] Tribune”; “ABC 15 employees endure 10 percent paycut this summer”
Here’s a MediaShift “Innovation Spotlight” story on the Heat City start-up. The article include information on another Phoenix start-up. All former reporters who have been laid off from legacy media outlets.
