It doesn't work because other businesses are creaming off the classifieds. Businesses like Tinder, Ebay, and Craigslist.

Newspaper management has been trying to do something about it for decades. I don't know if there's anything to be done. Somehow they have to get people to pay for the high cost items, like newsgathering, that they've never really paid for in the past. As far as I can see only the NYT has had any success in this area, and it always feels like a holding action.