Newspaper villain tries to rescue journalism

Man behind Craigslist gives millions to East Coast media

SAN FRANCISCO — Craig Newmark, so often accused of destroying journalism, is now doing his best to revive it.

In the late 1990s, Newmark, a former IBM programmer, built a service that allowed people to find apartments, jobs, computer parts, sexual partners, rides and all sorts of other things through the newfangled consumer internet.

Craigslist was fast, free and popular, which means you could be pretty sure of getting what you wanted or getting rid of what you didn’t want.

Newspaper income from classifieds, which had provided up to 40 percent of the industry’s revenue, immediately plummeted. Researchers eventually estimated that Craigslist had drained $5 billion from U.S. newspapers over a seven-year period.

Newmark is trying to stop the bleeding. He is among a gaggle of West Coast technology moguls riding to the rescue of the beleaguered East Coast media.

On Wednesday, New York Public Radio announced a $2.5 million gift from Newmark to expand its newsroom. That brings his philanthropic efforts involving media in the last year to $50 million, much of it centered on New York.

Newmark’s media-giving spree began in June, with a $20 million gift to the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism, which put his name on the door. This met with some criticism. Felix Salmon, a correspondent for Axios, tweeted that “it’s utterly bizarre to name a journalism school after the man who almost single-handedly destroyed local newspapers.”

Newmark followed that up last month with another $20 million gift to The Markup, a new site dedicated to investigating technology. He also gave to a new nonprofit effort called The City.

His media ventures differ from those of his peers — including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who bought the Washington Post, and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, who bought the Atlantic magazine.

“I’m not the kind of guy to own an operation,” Newmark said. “I help, then I get out of the way, then I stay out of the way. That’s my strength.”

He disagrees that he helped kill newspapers.

“People throw the accusation,” he said. “I look at the facts and stick with that. Ever watch CSI shows? They say follow the evidence.”

The fact that Craigslist was free, however, doubtless accelerated its effect. It is now in 700 cities in 70 countries.

“Craigslist helped people put food on the table, helped people get a table, helped people get a roof under which to put the table,” Newmark said. It is something he has said before, he acknowledged, “most recently some hours ago, on Twitter.”

His net worth, according to Forbes, is $1.6 billion. Newmark brushed the figure aside. “My focus is on giving it away in a smart way,” he said, though he didn’t want to say how much he plans to give away.

One thing is clear: He is not spending his money on Craigslist. He can’t remember the last time he got something off the site, although he said his wife used it.

While journalism is still in crisis across the nation, Newmark is concentrating on New York, where local coverage has also faltered.

“My goal is to support the groups which are not only going to do good work but say, ‘Here’s how you do good work,’ ” he said. “I’d like things to start in New York and spread.”