News headline: Fresco’s $1.2M

Fresco News, the crowdsourced journalism startup, got crowded with journalistic investors Tuesday through an investment round of $1.2 million.

Newcomers to the Manhattanbased operation, which enlists iPhonetoting civilians to deliver usergenerated content to professional news organizations, include former Yahoo! CEO Ross Levinsohn, CNN cofounder Reese Schonfeld, Mediabistro founder Laurel Touby and former News Corp. digital chief Jon Miller.

Fresco founder John Meyer, 20, also unveiled a new iOS app aimed at taking crowdsourced journalism to the next level. Like its predecessor, Fresco 2.0 brings active users of the app together with news organizations seeking images of an event they would like to cover but lack the resources to.

Fresco Dispatch, also announced on Tuesday, takes crowdsourced journalism to a new level by connecting Fresco’s growing army of iPhonetoting civilians with professional news organizations seeking images and updates of events they would like to cover but lack the resources to do so.

“We’re empowering anyone with an iPhone and our app to become a reporter,” Meyer said. “We’re tapping into the existing ondemand workforce — drivers for Uber and Postmates, for example — because those folks are already on the move.”

Fresco pays $20 for each photo and $70 for each video accepted by a subscriber. Meyer considers this a winwin — first for news organizations that otherwise wouldn’t cover an event and, second, for app users who find themselves $20to$70 richer for a minute’s work.

Meyer also wants to use the app overseas.

“That’s going to allow local news organizations to skyrocket their coverage to the level of a CNN — even if they can’t afford to send their people overseas,” he said.