Renee-good for you!  Thanks for sharing your experiences and glad you saw "between the lines" and wouldn't just go along with their agenda!

You made the right choice.  Until interviewees have some control over the editing process, your words will be twisted to suit the story they're trying to project.

The media create stories and seem to steer away from the truth if it isn't as exciting or just negative. Where are the facts? I live about 30 minutes from Charlotte and we continue to see growth but how often do they report on that.....Good for you.

Great post, I wish consumers all over the country could read it and realize what the media is doing.  Good for you!

Great for you.  Sometimes saying NO is the best way to keep the media from having a one sided view of the market.  Also glad to hear your REO properties are moving.  Unfortunately we have way to many in parts of our area and it will be tough to clear them out in the short term.

Good for you Renee! The media just uses people and twists them into what ever they want to be at that moment!

You did the right thing.  I would have done the same.  So many more times that not, the stories and direction are decided first and then they find the people to fit that story. 

It is clear the media has an agenda...you handled it perfectly.  It would be nice if everyone could get back to a free-market economy instead of a media-driven one.

I wouldn't trust any of the news media outlets.  They want to make news not report.

Renee - you're my Vegas star and I believe you did absolutely the right thing. You are right - no matter what you said by the time they edited it you would either be the expert on this nasty market making it nastier or the fool with blind eyes and uber ego. It's not about the truth - it's about their story. I give you five "yays". Yay, yay, yay, yay, yay - YAY! (Okay, six.) If we all refused to be their sock puppet they would have to do the story on their own and what value would that be?

GOod choice Renee.  It's hard to turn down an opportunity like that, but you saw passed just getting your name and face out there.

Good for you Renee! I absolutely believe you did the right thing. You saw between the lines and stayed true to yourself.

Good job saying NO! That isn't easy a lot of the time. I'm glad you were smart enough to think that one all the way through - especially after you saw the story and result. 

Sad... I wonder what that agent is thinking now.....

I was interviewed exactly one week ago by Inman News.  I had the same thoughts.  It was about the CW collapse and sale to B of A.  I was most concerned about truth.  The individual who interviewed me was fair, unbiased and presented truths.  I feel that I have 1 person in the media now whom I can trust.  That's hard to come by.

Renee -- I turns my stomach to think about the convoluted, agenda driven reporting that is being passed of as journalism. Taking as pass was the right thing. . .now if only the media would do the right thing.

Good for you Renee, I a confident you made the right choice.  Our market is turning here in the Tampa Bay area... I have said for a while that we would hit our bottom this year (by summer time).

Good for you Renee - I am glad you didn't buy into the flashing lights and the free publicity.  You thought it through and saw the end result and more importantly their agenda.    Who needs it. 

Hope all is well with ya

I KNEW I liked you!  Nearly every time I'm interviewed, it is distorted to be presented in a negative fashion.  I am SO proud of you for not giving in to their agenda!  Great job girl!

Congrats on resisting the doom and gloom guys. It is obvious that who ever mentioned " put a positive spin on it " has never been through the interview process.

News organizations before they begin have an agenda set with the story line. It will also support other accompanying articles and stories as well.

No positive spin will make it into the story. You will provide enough substantive material ( innocently enough) for the interviewer to stay on track with their story. If they do use any of your positive feedback it will be buried so deep in the story that most people will never see it.

Congrats for reading between the lines. Honestly I do not think that news organizations want to see the housing market do well. It just does not make very interesting copy.

THANK YOU!!  THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!

I get calls from news outlets regularly who have an agenda and need an agent to quote.  I refuse to help them. 

First, they already have their story outlined.  They're not looking for facts, just someone to help flesh out their story which they wrote based on an "assignment".  That assignment may not relate to actual conditions in your market but they must follow their assignment.

They are constantly looking in my area for abandonned homes, homes that were foreclosed and not sold, homes where they can get an owner in trouble to go public (ugh), etc.

Congratulations on not getting sucked in to the flame of fame. 

Good Job Renee....  The media loves to sensationalize gloom and doom of the housing bubble that never really popped.  Yes, after years of double digit growth the market naturally slowed but in my area that only means flat prices in some towns and slight adjustments in others.  The newspaper did put out a report the other day that the median home price in my area in 2007 was within 1% of 2006.

Renee, You done good!! I get asked all the time and rarely agree. The few times where I did do the interview they just used a couple of my sentences and took them out of context. It just ain't worth it. I will however be happy to do a LIVE televised interview.

Renee, there must be a rash of this going around. I wrote about a story on our local news last night about how foreclosures are up 39% in Fort Worth and that is an outright lie! You can twist things around to make it fit any agenda. Good for you! You stood on your morals and didn't let them push you around. What if one of your clients saw that interview???

Renee, What I love about you is your honesty and integrity.  I trust what you have to say because I know you're not going to "play me." I can tell your clients do too.

This quote from the latest Newseek Magazine article by Robert J. Samuelson called "Lollipop Encomics 101" says this.."The truth is that there's a touch of hysteria to much current economic commentarty that is as yet, unjustified by what's actually happened to the economy.  Yes, the housing slump is vicious, but at its peak, housing was only 5.5% of the economy...."

Renee  If everyone put there foot down and said "no" as you did the problem would go away - good job, Karen Kruschka

Hi Renee - good for you for saying NO.  When I get calls from reporters, most of them already know what they want their story to say and they refuse to want or listen to facts that dispute what they want to portray in their 'story'.   They just move on until they find someone who will play right into their 'story'.  Too bad they found this agent to use as they did.....

Ann

Hi Renee ~ you are so right. I have never ever been quoted correctly, EVER! I have also been involved in situations made into news stories and they are never close either. Don't believe what you read folks...that is the message here.

Thanks Renee, one would never expect to read a post like this in AR and I am glad you wrote it.

I think you made the right decision.  I don't think you could win on this one and the news tends to pick and choose what they use so invariably your words are out of context and not what you meant.  Good Call!

I would have taken the interview and then told them the truth. You would have really screwed up their story, now they are going to get some sap, who will cave to their sensationalism and tell everyone exactly what the media outlet wants to portray. Lance

Renee - It's good to see that the some people can tell the media no. We know that they want a dramatic story, not the truth.

Renee - Ya gotta luv the media. NOT. Nothing like making up your mind and then finding support for your off-beat idea so you can print headlines to sensationalize. You made the right decision...and you KNOW you would not have been quoted correctly. Guess I don;t agree with Lance - good idea in principal but unless they let you edit the article it would have been their slant, not your truth.

Jeff 

I think that is a good idea.  Hopefully you will get a shot again when the state isn't under the microscope.

J.

Renee....  good for you. I haven't read the comments, but the media usually has an agenda and not usually the truth. ... and that's sad.  They expect many that they ask, to jump at the opportunity because they will be mentioned and lose site at the truth.... good job.

Renee - you are so right!  Your words WOULD have been twisted.  Good news doesnt sell - BAD NEWS sells.  A couple of years ago I over an interview with an agent in my office.  The next week - we read the story.  He was quoted all right - but only 1/2 of each sentence.

Good for you!  Keeping your level of professionalism and integrity is significantly more important than a media opportunity.  I am impressed by your foreward thinking on this occassion.  Many would have not noticed the red flags until after when they had to explain to everyone how their words were twisted!

You GO GIRL!  I went through the last big recession/downturn of the real estate market, in the late 80's early 90's, in Houston/Katy Texas where I still am after 32 years.  Oil hit $10 a barrel, and we lost 50%-75% of home values.  It was not a pretty sight.  Vegas and the rest of the country will turn around it always does, just like the stock market, what goes up must come down.  Real Estate is a cyclical thing, we have our ups and our downs, what we are going though now is a "normalization" of the market.  Liz

Good job Renee!  When I recently set three price-per-square-foot records, the media hardly gave it any attention.  I'm thankful that you did what was right, your integrity to our market is appreciatted.