Why does the local newspaper have to be saved



Jason Calacanis
A video clip of Jason Calacanis in Greensboro, N.C., last week talking about why it must suck to own newspapers.

I wouldn’t want to be in that business…I’m not so tied to the idea that there has to be a local paper….Maybe a local blog is a better concept….Maybe a group of local bloggers having their work appear in one location is better.

Calacanis is a journalist-turned-scrappy-seria-entreprenuer. He is currently CEO of the search engine Mahalo, which has a cadre of folks doing something akin to journalism. A mostly lovable self-promoter with a gift for getting attention, he gives those who see local newspapers as part of the hallowed foundation of community and modern society something to think about when he says: “Why does the local newspaper have to be saved … I’m not not so emotionally tied to the idea there has to be a local paper.”

Leonard Witt, who interviewed Calacanis, says it’s the first of a series on the future of jouranlism. And he’s looking for others to do their own take on video and send him a link. Sort of a group edit, he says.

Now, it’s your turn.

(via, of course, Jason Calacanis)