PJNet

The Boston Globe runs a fine Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, primer and update . The site also has a 28-minute audio discussion with Newmark.

A good quote from the article:

“They’re one of the very few companies in the world that could raise its prices with impunity,” says Peter Zollman, founding principal of Classified Intelligence. He says Craigslist is a for-profit business “run like a nonprofit.”

But Newmark says users – the constituency he’s most loyal to – don’t care about Craigslist making more money. “There’s nothing noble or altruistic or pious about what we’re doing,” he says. “Once you make enough money and provide for your future, it’s more satisfying to change the world a little bit.”

And cashing out by selling the company is out of the question. “Jim and I know some of these really rich guys,” he says. “They’re not happier than anyone we know. So what’s the point?”

On the journalism front:

Craigslist is often characterized as an assassin of newspapers, spiriting away their classified advertising revenues. …

“Has Craigslist caused newspapers pain? Yes. It’s called capitalism,” Zollman says. “They came along with a better mousetrap, and people started using it.”

Newmark is personally interested in exploring the potential for the Internet to support new kinds of journalism, whether produced by professional investigative reporters or amateurs. “We need investigative reporters to ask tough questions,” he says.

Among the organizations he supplies with moral or financial support are the Sunlight Foundation, which aims to improve access to congressional information; NewAssignment.net, which promotes “open source” reporting; and ProPublica, which is building a team of investigative journalists.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 15th, 2008 at 1:05 pm and is filed under Advertising, Craig Newmark, Craigslist, Journalism, Journalism Business Models, Newspapers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.