SFWeekly.com’s Ryan Blitstein has a long piece on Craig Newmark, the effect of craigslist on journalism (not so good), and what Newsmark’s public musings about citizen journalism mean. There is a little more about projects Newmarket may become involved in, although for all the light that has been shone on the subject over the past year, details remains hazy.
Blitstein’s piece isn’t the usual fawning profile internet readers may be used to. The headline is “Craig$list.com” and the subhead reads, “The much-loved Web site is taking millions from Bay Area newspapers and causing layoffs that adversely affect coverage. And its founder’s well-intentioned support of citizen journalism has a slim chance of fixing the problem.”
I’m still absorbing the piece but my initial reaction is that it is important to the continuing discussion about what journalism has been, is and will/may/should become. I may have more on it after a second read and some deep thinking; for now, go read.
UPDATE: Ryan emailed to correct me: he’s a staff writer with SF Weekly. He writes: “”SFWeekly.com is — for now at least — just the paper’s Web site.”
TAGS: CRAIGSLIST, JOURNALISM, NEWSPAPERS
