CraigsNews to Resuscitate Old Media

Craig Newmark wants to help not hinder old media, according to Information Week.

Newmark said he is working on a project that would use citizen journalists to select and monitor the best media stories so that good journalism is prominently displayed while those whose reporting is shoddy (rhymes with True-myth Filler) will be vilified by the public.

"I could say there's a lot of blood on the hands of people who don't do their jobs," Newmark said.

Interestingly Newmark, whose free Craigslist service has put a hurting on newspaper classified revenues, said that the content would be paid for through subscriptions or micropayments per article. I can understand his reluctance to embrace advertising (which could endanger the purity of the journalism), but a service that wants free exchange of ideas needs be available to the largest audience, which probably means being ad supported in some capacity.

The service would be a cross between Slashdot, the Daily Kos, and Digg, which could be a successful niche. And anything that increases the quality of reporting is good for everyone.