domino effect

I worked as a graphic designer at a free, twice-weekly alt newspaper for a few years in the early-mid 2000's while my wife was in grad school. Craigslist hadn't made it there yet, and social media wasn't really a thing either. We considered the phonebook to be our biggest competitor.

While the ads weren't exactly cheap, the money from them also supported the local economy, and quality journalism. The extra friction and small investment also made it much more likely the ads were legitimate. That paper is still around in name only, and now owned by a media conglomerate.

That said, my current job (which I've had for almost 16 years) I found though a Craigslist ad when we moved for my wife's postdoc.

Poor Craig, I don't think he knew he'd be the first domino. (He's donated to my employer so I have a bias. We named an office restroom after him)

https://craignewmarkphilanthro...

Craig used to support the publication I worked at, The Markup, he was our biggest funder. And then he decided not to, and we were f'd.

I used to be a reasonably paid newspaper reporter. Now I’m an unpaid startup guy. I blame Craig.

Also, Craig is a hero for never really monetizing, selling out, or even changing Craigslist and for all of his moral and fiscal support of teachers.

Craig may be a nice guy, and I know he's funded a number of journalism projects, but that was only *after* he helped destroy the business model for local print publications, from alt-weeklies and community newspapers all the way up to magazines. Even if he didn't mean to be the first domino, it was immediately obvious what a disaster craigslist was for journalism.