4 ms·
Craigslist had both free and paid categories, and I believe at its peak revenues would have supported the investments I'm imagining - especially in second and t
by subpixel 4y ago
Craigslist had both free and paid categories, and I believe at its peak revenues would have supported the investments I'm imagining - especially in second and third tier markets.
By the time these ideas came to me, most of these papers were on their knees, and already making hard cuts.
- nindalf 4y agoThat’s an extraordinary claim. Perhaps you’d back that up with some numbers?
- subpixel 4y agoIn 2008 Craigslist was worth $5 billion with revenues around $80 million. I worked for newspapers with losses on $1-5 million revenues. There were tons of investment opportunities and the publishers were up against a wall. Again not saying this was necessarily smart business but this is a fantasy remember?
- nindalf 4y agoA few newspapers making a few million in losses? Well, America has lost almost 1,800 papers since 2004, including more than 60 dailies and 1,700 weeklies. (Source: https://www.usnewsdeserts.com/reports/expanding-news-desert/loss-of-local-news/loss-newspapers-readers/ https://www.usnewsdeserts.com/reports/expanding-news-desert/...) So if each newspaper needed just $500k to stay afloat, we’re talking almost a billion dollars. Craigslist was making a tenth of that in revenue, according to you. Their profit was a fraction of that. I’m not criticising your dream. I’m criticising the people who advocate for this position in real life. “Tax/regulate tech! That’ll solve everything!”