Says MSM not doing its job: Craigslist founder Craig Newmark gave voice to millions of us when he spoke at an Oxford University event earlier this week:
Saying U.S. newspapers “are afraid to talk truth to power,” Craigslist founder Craig Newmark hinted that he’s about to launch a major online journalism project within the next few months that will copy the successful “wisdom of the masses” approach to classified advertising and apply it to journalism.
In a follow-up interview with the British newspaper the Guardian, Newmark expressed the frustration so many Americans feel about the overpaid lapdogs who report the news, especially those in the Capitol:
When talk turned to the problems plaguing the U.S. news industry, Newmark let fly: “The big issue in the U.S. is that newspapers are afraid to talk truth to power,” the Guardian quoted him as saying. “The White House press corps don’t speak the truth to power — they are frightened to lose access they don’t have anyway. … The American public has lost a lot of trust in conventional newspaper mechanisms. Mechanisms are now being developed online to correct that.”
Newmark also said coverage of the Iraq war and the press’ involvement in the Valerie Plame case had damaged American journalism.
About his new venture, Newmark said this on his blog:
I’m working with some folks on technologies that promise to help people find the most trusted versions of the more important stories… and this is personal, helping out another group not associated with craigslist. This kind of technology is intended to preserve the best of existing journalistic practices, and should help retain newsroom jobs.
