i agree with you on this.

YOur headline caught my attention and I have to agree - just ask President Bush!

Now have a Blessed Day,

John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR
http://www.johnocchi.com/

I try to remember the NEWS is really entertainment.   When Katie Couric gets her phony sympathetic expression, we turn to re-runs.

My late mother was such a news junky that it made her ill and led to surgery.  She was totally hooked on CNN.  I don't turn the TV on till quitting time and refuse to believe the news.  

"I try to remember the NEWS is really entertainment."

Right.  if only it was entertaining.

I agree that it SEEMS like entertainment but then if it in fact WERE entertainment then they should tell us and not act like uppity "journalists".  The big lie is that they have all been co-opted and won't admit it--- so get out there and stand up for the Real Estate Agent of today!

The media corporations know that fear sells. My favorite alarmist news item is "how easy it is for hackers to get your credit card information on the internet." I know people who refuse to buy stuff online at Amazon, but won't give a second thought to handing their credit card to a busboy at a cheap restaurant.  

Don't fret, Zillow's interest is in advertising revenue and Redfin's business model will prevent it from ever making more than a small dent in the industry. 

I find that 2 advil and a scotch works wonders! ;-) 

The new news is that I stopped listening to news. because it isn't news it's spin!

News must be sensationalized otherwise it is boring!  I am with ya ;)

"I find that 2 advil and a scotch works wonders! ;-) "

Whoo needs the Advil?  What is it for?

:)

David, nice rant. Any news as far as the news is concerned is good news and to get people talking and asking for more is their job...our job to list and sell, be as good as we can be and overlook the little minds. We can change others but hopefully with good service, we'll enlighten a few.

Thanks Gena  just call me "RANTS R US"  (Perhaps I am a frustrated radio talk show host?) I agree that killer service and proving them wrong is key as most serious agents will attest to.  However... the media play a huge role in skewing or skewering the facts and cannot be trusted alone with the details.

WALMART is a good example....starting almost 2 years ago was an intentional "let's knock Walmart of the pedestal mantra from the media and with it's continuous drumbeat hinging on a number of issues primarily related to a Labor perspective...Walmart had it's first bad quarter 2 quarters ago.  I have my own issues with the company but when the media got hold of one it liked....watch out!

Yes they survive on drama but then.......so did chicken little.

it's gotta be sexy to sell, and fear is always sexy.  amazing that they can seek out something so harmless and helpful to sellers and make it bad...and to what end???

You've 'ranted' for many of us... Thanks.

That said, I have often wondered about the pics and virtual tours we put on the internet as to whether or not some loony-tune might use them to gather info about a particular home/family.  I would think the odds are against anything bad happening but I do try to be very careful what is 'displayed' in the pics.

In fact in our case here at TourFactory.com we set our viewers to make sure the images in panorama or immersive form will pixelate quicker than the norm.  This is a safety feature that makes it far more difficult to see specifics as in valuable objects , security, etc.

We only need to turn to Geraldo to see that all that hits the airwaves need not be newsworthy.........Anyone remember Al Capones Vault!!!!

Thanks for the disclaimer Joe although:

1 - Helping my case with the media isn't exactly what I am interested in. They have already taken the "other side" of the argument without truly explaining that examples that fortify their ideology are few and far between.  But then chicken little saw all things in the same way. My point is to hold them accountable for BEING chicken littles.

2 - Explain how reinforcement of any image is detailed here in the rant.

And if it is the case that you love your agents and depend on them for a portion of your revenues why would anyone want to give you money that gives you more ability to hammer them ad hominem? Fairness is as fairness does.

Perhaps since print is falling of the earth at an alarming pace regarding real estate advertising dollars it might be the tenor that you in the media take that makes them run even faster.

The only news source that is worth watching (in my humble opinion) is Jon Stewart's Daily Show on Comedy Central.  At least that program realizes that it is entertainment.  Anything really important will be commented on in some way, and he will probably say exactly what the real newscasters wish they could say on their programs. Thanks for letting me ride the coattails of this rant, by the way.

Hear-Hear!! 

People are always looking for a down side to everything.  I say let it be, if something bad happens, then it will happen, but don't dwell on the what if's!!

I have always beleived to true world dictator is the media. They run everything, from driving gas prices way up, to bursting the bubble. They have too much opinion for their own good.

OK Joe,

First, I was a commercial director and producer for 21 years and my entire life revolved around "propaganda" and the uses of it. So I have a serious insight into what type of stories the media put up and how they shade and obfuscate an issue to prove a point they agree with.  This is the typical way things are done at the media level and my point is that they should not have a free ride.

The story was not innocuous, in fact it was a scare piece that had no bearing on the truth. 

I never said you attacked me I said the media does often in ways that are under the sheets if you will and they get away with it all the time.  YES all the time.  I never take off on any "slender thread" since I as stated before have been on the propaganda side for my entire adult life.

Are there crooks in this business. Well duh. But typically the media paints the canvas with a huge broad brush taking in whoever they want without regard to balance (race issues and climate issues as well).  If in fact this was an innocuous or naive story then perhaps the questions asked by the interviewer and were answered forthrightly by the few on the agent side answered would have been used in the 2.5 minute piece.  However the ideology of the piece was not to balance a perspective of whether VT's were potentially dangerous but was to make their position absolute.  This is the primary reason I suggest they are more than not -- un-educated people (meaning under educated) in the media shouting in an echo chamber or attempting to make an echo chamber stick for long enough to create their next "sky is falling" attack.

If chicken little pieces on TV and in the news are acceptable then we are in big trouble as a society.  Paris Hilton has done the same thing as many of the "producers and writers" of this garbage.....she made an image out of yelling... "look at me and all my badness!!"

Bravo - You're absolutely right.  That tail has been wagging the dog for long enough.  They no longer report news (remember when that was done dispassionately or are you too young) they feel it is their calling to shape opinion in their own mold.

BTW - JudyAnn - you mena Katie isn't being sincere;<)  and Aaron - that's a double scotch and a single Advil.

Couldn't agree more their so called experts at times are just ridiculous.

Well the newspaper only sells news that gets attention and negative info on real estate is everyone's worst fear so it gets attention.

I don't watch much news. Maybe that's a good thing.

I think the fear is huge, yea it a buyers market, you can get just want you want right now - BUT wait maybe we don't want to buy now cause the value of the house is only going to go down, and then if we want to get rid of it, we will be the seller that can't sell.  Wait maybe we should wait!!!  Ugh!!

Becky