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Craigslist chief executive Jim Buckmaster says that U.S. newspapers are purposely writing negative stores about the online classified site.

 Buckmaster Speaks Negative Publicity

At the MediaGuardian.co.uk Changing Media Summit in London Buckmaster said," In the US the attitude of newspapers toward us has evolved. There were positive stories in the early days that has now reversed. Journalist friends of ours say that they have been told not to write positive stories about us."

Buckmaster said there was "enthusiasm" shown for writing negative stories about Craigslist. "I don't mean it [the accusation] as a complaint, it is a factual answer we are seen as a primary competitor by newspapers," he added.

Buckmaster said in the future people will view Craigslist as "laughably crude." "It is still the early stages," he said, referring to the development of Craigslist. "If you look back 10 years from now the technology will look laughably crude."

Craigslist originally launched in 1995 and Buckmaster said there are significant differences between the strategy start-ups use now and how it was when the site first launched. "This time around you don't see companies so eager to take on VC [venture capital] money, it narrows their options, and if they do take it they are taking it a lot later [in their growth cycle]," he said. "Companies are taking more diverse strategies this time around."

eBay owns around 25 percent of Craigslist and Buckmaster says they have been a fairly hands off backer. " A lot of dire predictions were made when it was made public that eBay had a stake," he added, saying that "three to four years later" the relationship had not negatively impacted the Craigslist operation.