The majority of local journalism / community journalism / citizen journalism sites tend to start out similarly to the way we did at The Overland Examiner, a one person shop with no funding that's being run around another career that pays the bills.   While funding needs can be critical, it can be managed.  However, time is always the scarcest commodity.
Filing as a 501(3)c requires a lot of time and can be expensive, but that is only the beginning.   Once you have a 501(3)c  you also have all the reporting and meeting requirements of a corporation which uses up valuable time that could be spent working on your project itself.   Though the few grant opportunities I have found require 501(3)c status the biggest of them (J-Labs) is only for new projects (leaving mine out), and most are small enough that they cause me to question whether dealing with being a 501(3)c would be worth it.
Another problem with 501(3)c's is the requirement of a board of directors.   Creating a board of directors is not difficult, but if you ever hope to develop your project to the point where you can work on it full time and be paid you cannot be on that board yourself.   This means you'd be taking the risk that your project could be taken from you, or at taken in a direction you don't want to go if you ever find yourself at odds with the board of directors you named.
When dealing with business taxes and the like, businesses only pay taxes on their profits.   You deduct expenses from revenues and what remains is taxable.   I can't speak for everyone but my own project has never had that equation end in a possitive number.    LLC filings are cheap and simple, as are the reporting and filing requirements in the future.   This allows you to devote the majority of your valuable time to the goals of your project rather than paperwork and administration.
That's why I'm planning to file as an LLC, I want the control and the simplicity that comes with it.   If I ever have to pay taxes as a result, in my view, that will be a sign of the project's success. 
 
 OverlandSailor - Editor of the Overland Examiner (http://overlandexaminer.org)