While newspapers worry about the financial impact of websites such as Craigslist, the creator of said website says his impact has been "greatly exaggerated".
Speaking to the Rocky Mountain News, Craig Newmark said: "We have had an (economic) impact, but it's been greatly exaggerated. For example, falling circulation is a much bigger effect.""
And if he were in charge of a newspaper, Newmark says: "I'd be moving to the Web faster, hiring more investigative journalists, engaging the community and speaking truth to power."
Some might say that that is easy for Newmark to say. Investigative journalism is time and manpower-consuming. Most news organisations are cutting back on staff directly as a result of falling revenues. It is hard to see how the two can be reconciled in the short term.
However, he is right to point out that now is the time for Big Media to reassess what it does and how it does it.
