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.

Focus: Arizona state capitol, legislative issues

Launched: January 2009

Founders: 4 reporters laid off from the East Valley Tribune.

Funding: LLC owners, subscription service  paywall.

Web site: arizonaguardian.com

Location: Phoenix

Sample stories: “[Gov.  Jan] Brewer unveils budget, girds for legislative battle”; “[Sen. John] McCain staffer wanted by Phoenix authorities”

From “About  us” page: “[The founding reporters] also have broken ground in the creation of a new business model for Arizona journalism. Epler, Giblin, Reinhart and Welch serve as equal co-owners of Arizona Guardian, L.L.C., the Guardian’s parent company. Joining the four is publisher Bob Grossfeld who is the fifth equal co-owner and responsible for all non-editorial operations.”

In the news: Here’s a February 2009 MediaShift story — good depth — about The Arizona Guardian (and Heat City, another AZ news start-up).