There has been much comment and speculation surrounding what Craig Newmark said in London a week ago and then blogged:
I’m working with some folks on technologies that promise to help people find the most trusted versions of the more important stories… and this is personal, helping out another group not associated with craigslist….
Craig was trying to clear up some misimpressions in various stories and posts that jumped off from this Guardian report but he couldn’t say much because the company is still stealth. To help clarify:
Craig invested in the news startup I’ve been working with, which I mentioned briefly back in May. He is one of our angel investors and advisor as an individual, not on behalf of Craigslist.
We’re not ready to show or describe our service in any detail; we’re still in development. Our goal is to create a platform to organize the world’s news using the best of technology, community, and editors. We see an explosion of interest in and coverage of news from incredibly varied sources around the world and see a need around that.
We plan to have a beta in the spring. And as I’ve blogged before, we will be looking for talent in various areas; we’re not ready to take on more folks yet but I’ll let you know when we are. And of course, we’ll post the jobs on Craigslist! In the meantime, stay tuned.