Craigslist.org Founder Eyes Journalism (quotes Hunter Thompson)

[BigBearJohn]

Newmark hopes to develop a pool of "talented amateurs" who could investigate scandals, cover politics and promote the most important and credible stories. Articles would be published on Internet sites ranging from Craigslist to individual Web logs, or blogs

But he believes the reason why newspapers are losing circulation is that too many traditional journalists are willing to quote politicians and business executives even if they're blatantly lying — merely for the sake of perceived objectivity. He'd prefer an "open source" model of journalism where legions of volunteers act as writers, assignment editors and fact checkers to challenge mainstream journalists.

"People are looking for attitude and guts in reporting — not full-on gonzo journalism, but hey, tell us what you think," said Newmark, who described himself as having Whig values — strong on defense, fiscally conservative but socially liberal.

"Maybe Hunter Thompson had it right," Newmark said, referring to the late cultural icon whose rollicking, first-person narratives of drug addiction, the Hells Angels and the 1972 presidential election shook up the media decades ago.

Complete article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/craigslist

[Teaser]

1. Brilliant!

as the english dudes say.

[NVMojo]

2. I totally agree with this effort! Let's bring back the "public's watchdog"

status of journalism that is now nothing more than the whores of the liars controlling our country!!!

[wicket]

3. Very cool!

:kick:

[KamaAina]

4. DUer Tace has anticipated this idea at World News Trust

http://www.worldnewstrust.org

then again, craigslist does carry a certain amount of cachet, not to mention potential financial backing. Let's see where he can go with this.

[freeplessinseattle]

5. "fiscally conservative but socially liberal"

not to rank on him, he seems like a cool guy with good values, but I get so sick of hearing that. when it comes down to it, which one would outweigh the other?

[democracyindanger]

6. Why do they have to be mutually exclusive?

[dArKeR]

7. Air America Radio in print! I still say they're going to assassinate

Franken.

[earth mom]

8. KICK!

:kick:

[sleipnir]

9. The Whig's are coming back!

Excellent...Now we just wait for him to form a WhigUnderground.com

I always thought the Whig party would return one day from the mines of obscurity.

[Daphne08]

10. Fantastic idea!

[il_lilac]

11. This is what we need

MSM is never going to report responsibly- we need a high profile news source with integrity and guts!

[bill]

12. Open-Source Journalism!

I've thought that was teh greatest idea since Kos was talking about it on DailyKos

[kma3346]

13. Great news!!!

This is the best news I've heard in a long time. Since the corporate media is more interested in runaway brides, Michael Jackson, and other totally useless stories, we desperately need another journalistic outlet that we can trust and that will spread the truth about stories that are important to we, the American public!!

I've been reading DU posts for quite a while now, but this news brought me out of lurkdom and into the light!