Why a news nonprofit founder made it his life’s mission to report on our greatest challenges
By LA Stories Staff Los Angeles
PUBLISHED 5:00 AM PT Nov. 20, 2023
Danny Feingold was raised in a household that lived by the idea of tikkun olam, a concept in Judaism that refers to actionable measures intended to repair and improve the world.
In high school, Feingold fell in love with writing and even started his own underground newspaper. Even at his young age, he knew he would use his love of writing in the future to practice tikkun olam.
“I come from an immigrant family,” Feingold said. “And there was a sense of vulnerability that it’s crucial that you have a government, a private sector, a society that’s actually paying attention to the needs of everyone.”
In the latest episode of “LA Stories,” Feingold shares with host Giselle Fernandez how he went on to write for the Village View and later started his own online publication called Capital and Main, a nonprofit news organization. He said Capital and Main is nonpartisan and mission-driven, and reports on what he says are two of the great challenges of our time: economic inequality and climate change.
Today, Capital and Main is known for its award-winning reporting and investigative series, such as The Slick, which reports on the fossil fuel industry’s effect on climate change, and the United States of Inequality, which focused on the most vulnerable communities.
“This is the biggest story, not just of our time, the biggest story in history,“ Feingold said. “As a journalist, as a publisher, I have a responsibility to devote significant resources. And I believe every publisher, every editor, has that same responsibility.”
Feingold shares about his concern for the state of not only journalism, but how people consume information. It’s important to him that people see themselves reflected in the news and stories that they tell. By operating as a nonprofit organization, he said Capital and Main offers journalism that is free from the commercial pressures of other for-profit outlets, which can influence their coverage.
To him, with all the disinformation and distrust in American media, he feels a sort of accountability that journalism is more crucial than ever.
“I think about what’s happening not just with the country, but with the planet,” he said. “It drives me to want to tell the kinds of stories that can make sure that my daughter — all kids, this generation, next generation, have a livable planet. It’s our responsibility as journalists, as human beings.”