Craigslist

At first glance it doesn''t make much sense to ask Craig Newmark about the future of journalism. It makes less sense to ask that he play a role in it. After all, he''s not a journalist and has never worked in journalism. He created a Web site of free classifieds. He called it craigslist. It''s a place to find a job, sofa, running partner, new studio apartment. He started it as a community service. He does it in his own words, "to do good."

All the same, classifieds are a traditional funding source for newspapers, and by taking them away, he is sometimes fingered as the man responsible for taking down newspapers.

When he was humorously accused of this during the The Colbert Report (a satire show on Comedy Central), Newmark chuckled, said he couldn''t take full credit, and admitted that he''s been called the anti-christ of print media.

He has become adept at handling these kinds of moments. He''s funny in a flat-affected, self-deprecating way. But in a more serious moment with the Media Giraffe Project, he says, "I have the impression of a love-hate relationship. The classifieds people aren''t happy with us. The news people, the editors, the writers really like us, but they''re frustrated about the whole phenomenon of what''s happening in the newspapers."

He says he has spoken to a classifieds analyst who believes small papers like the Pennysaver are doing more harm. He also sees classified revenue that no one is tapping into. But he doesn''t linger on these points. He reads newspapers, he says. He cares about civic responsibility. He understands that a loss of advertising will lead to a loss of reporting jobs.

"It''s not my responsibility in any sense except self-imposed," he says. "I''m concerned about it. I want to find out how I can help, but I don''t have many solutions. I''m hoping the shifts in journalism occur fast enough that investigative journalism is a more secure kind of job." That is a question: What role will he play? What will this role look like?

UPDATES:
At the time that MGP interviewed Craig Newmark (in 2005), he said Ebay, who owned a minority share in Craigslist, shared the same moral compass and did not meddle with their operations. Three years later they were countersuing the company. This May 14, 2008 NY Times article covers what went wrong between the companies, suggesting that Ebay''s ownership of rival classified site Kijiji led to the tension. It also poses the question in the end of whether Ebay has been interested in buying Craigslist, and just how much this global company would be worth.

In this January 20, 2007 video posted on ScribeMedia.org, Newmark gives a 17 minute speech titled "Craig Newmark: Web 2.0 and People''s Globalism." From the site you can also access a 52 minute Q and A.

Newmark is quoted in an ABC News website story:
"Newmark said he would like to help the newspaper industry and wants to launch a new Web site that at least links to what he believes is the best journalism articles and sites around. And he believes that perhaps someday he may branch out and hire his own reporters for the site."

In the Winter 2006 issue of Nieman Reports, Newmark published an article "Community Building on the Web: Implications for Journalism." It''s a good summation of his thinking of news on the internet. He ends:

"I''m hopeful that what I''ve learned about trust in our online community can help journalism achieve this in their digital enterprises. I''m here to help, and I''ll try not to get in the way."

This suggests again his interest in the issues, without putting him in a role further than discussing it, or making small investment in online sites such as Daylife.

Craigslist charging in more cities (Nov. 2005)

Craiglist is a growing source of free online classifieds for housing, real-estate and general sales. Founded in San Francisco, it has expanded worldwide. Its founder, a one-time software engineer, wants the sites to be know for their simple, human voice. Craig Newmark bills himself as the company''s full-time customer service representative.

The Los Angeles Times did a profile of Newmark and his company on June 13, 2004.

On March 22, 2005, an address by Newmark at the UC-Berkeley School of Journalism was videotaped and is available online as a video stream. A transcript of his remarks at Berkeley is available HERE.

OTHER LINKS:
Craig''s List posts for Katrina aid (Aug. 30, 2005)
New York Daily News: is Craig''s List quantity not quality, ask competitors? (Aug. 25, 2005)

Craig''s List Will No Longer Run Erotic Service Ads For Free (November 2008)

ALSO NOTED:
Craig starts charging $10 for NYC real-estate listings

________________
Below from http://www.craigslist.org/about/mission.and.history.html

Craigslist is about:

giving each other a break, getting the word out about everyday, real-world stuff.

restoring the human voice to the Internet, in a humane, non-commercial environment.

keeping things simple, common-sense, down-to-earth, honest, very real.

providing an alternative to impersonal, big-media sites.

being inclusive, giving a voice to the disenfranchised, democratizing ...

being a collection of communities with similar spirit, not a single monolithic entity.

________________