THE MEDIA NEEDS TO CHANGE IT'S DIRECTION

Well, I guess it's all relative.  I'm 58 and my dad is 78 and I had him and my mom over for dinner last night and for some reason my dad started talking about how bad things were when he was a kid during the depression.  He said he was very young, but his dad (my grandfather) was a carpenter and couldn't find steady work and that the family of 4 siblings had to buy food necessities at a local grocery store on credit.  He said about about 5 years that my grandfather had to deed over his house to the grocer to pay the food bill for those 5 years which was agreed on in advance.

WOW...talk about ROUGH!  Makes me feel ashame to complain about anything!  So whatever anyone is complaining about...it's all relative.

I get frustrated when my market area gets lumped in with Greater Orlando for the negative reports. It is not the same.

Valerie-

As Realtors we all have a duty to challenge the negative media about their stories.  You need to study the facts of your local market, find the nuggets of good, and start calling talk radio shows and writing letters to the editor on an on-going basis. 

If we don't push back and call the media out, nothing will change.

Tim

Valerie-

The threshold of the media to report hard news went out the window a long time ago.  Today's media think's their duty is to generate revenues without regard to the facts.

I spent 20 years in the media working in magazine, newspaper, and book publishing.  When I started there was a clear difference between the publishing side and the editorial side of the business.  Over time the lines blurred and we have the new media of today.  The sick reality is that bad news sells and if consumers (you and me) voted with our wallets it would change.

Do you know what the largest circulation magazines are today?  People Magazine, National Enquirer, and the Star.  Sales will vary widely with each issue.  The editors pray for bad news with a special emphasis on death and destruction.  The People Magazine issue featuring Lady Di's death was the largest selling issue ever.  When bad news isn't happening editors of today will manufacture and spin the news with a negative slant to sell more product or get more ratings.

I host a weekly radio show about real estate.  It is the glass half full version on the news.  Recently, the station management suggested I create more controversy on the show because that is what listeners want.  Listeners don't want the good news with feel-good stories--they want bad news and controversy.

That is the reality and only consumers of news can change it.  The media are giving you what you want.

Tim

Valerie,

I think that the public needs to tune out this kind of rubbish.  Until that happens, the media won't change.  The other thing we can do is to confront them and set the record straight at least on our little corner of the world.  You inspired me to write the following post:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/816397/AN-ACTIVE-RAIN-CALL-to-ARMS

We all need to be proactive and confront the press when we know they are wrong.

Tim

Val, I just wrote a blog about the other financial gurus getting in on real estate bashing, we are the brunt of all the woes. What is the NAR doing to stem this bad publicity?