One of the common themes representatives of Craigslist are asked about is why they are not taking their company to the next level, going public and making hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars. In an interview with Business Week, Buckmaster goes over his desire to remain a small company while dismissing accusations of the Craigslist team being "communists" and "anarchists." 

But what's wrong with newspapers, the medium on which free classifieds have undoubtedly had the most impact? 

"To me, a newspaper's role is to get high-quality, accurate information in front of readers. Long before I got to Craigslist, I felt that the big newspaper chains had gotten away from that by taking on debt for acquisitions and focusing on how to increase their profit margins. If it was me, I'd try to get back to the principles of how do I serve the role of the Fourth Estate well and keep the U.S. from falling into this ridiculous war that we're in.

"I was very disappointed with how newspapers dropped the ball in avoiding our getting into this war. I love newspapers and I read lots of them, but once you get away from what you're about, it becomes difficult. You can't serve Wall Street while you're also trying to assist the public. If I were to choose, I'd try to serve the public and let the money side take care of itself."

Interesting proposition. And with many calling for the privatization of newspaper companies, Buckmaster's ideas certainly aren't farfetched and could soon become the norm.

Source: Business Week