News Startup Capital New York Raises More ... Capital

By: Edmund Lee | AdAge.com

As the venerated 130-year-old Los Angeles Times was laying off more of its reporters a few weeks ago, Capital New York, a small news startup based in Manhattan, raised $1.7 million with plans to double its editorial staff -- to a grand total of nine.

While that count hardly compares to the Los Angeles Times' editorial staff of 600, it's a notable achievement given that the prospects for original, digital-only journalism remain unclear, let alone original reporting practiced by established broadsheets like the Times.

Founded in June last year by former New York Observer editors Josh Benson and Tom McGeveran as an earnest experiment in digital journalism, Capital's new investment allows the small news operation to hire additional writers, including, recently, New York Observer's political reporter Azi Paybarah, who will join staffer Gillian Reagan.