The real estate industry in most of this country is a mess — just don’t ask your neighborhood real estate agent — who will bury you in stats and figures that make it look “not that bad” or “better than you think.” Many newspapers across the country had very little coverage of the housing bubble and fallout as Dan Gillmor points out. A recent E&P piece has editors pointing to a smattering of stories on the now-crisis – but Gillmor calls that story “tripe:”
Newspapers and broadcasters were raking in billions in advertising from the real estate and banking industries as this bubble inflated. I do not believe this is a coincidence. I also don’t believe it was deliberate malfeasance; but you just don’t see lots of tough coverage in media of the people and companies paying the bills.
(Disclosure: My father, aunt, grandfather and greatgrandfather all served in the family business… selling real estate. And yes, we get along just fine.)
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I’m not one to blame the media for clueless people’s problems, but if you point the finger at the newspapers, you could also point it at the television networks – in particular, all the ridiculous home makeover, interior decorating and home improvement shows where people oohed and ahed over McMansions. That sort of celebration of consumer excess surely influenced many to think a house was the most important thing in their lives and worth over paying for.
And it wasn’t just home makeover shows. There was a whole cottage industry of shows overtly and exclusively focused on house-flipping: TLC’s “Flip That House,” HGTV’s “Bought & Sold,” A&E’s “Flip This House,” TLC’s “Real Estate Pros,” Bravo’s “Flipping Out,” TLC’s “Property Ladder” … and they’re still on the air! It’s even more surreal to watch them now than it was then.
I still enjoy Flip This (and That) House as a weekend afternoon couch exercise but it’s amazing to see what’s going on.
In fact, almost every house on TLC’s “Flip That” has the flipper moving into it and concluding they have no clue what they’re doing. If it wasn’t so sad, it would be funny.
There’s one five-letter word that describes the fuel that fed the turmoil caused by the borrowers, brokers and bankers…
greed.
Webomatica: I think there’s a difference between the type of programming…clearly entertainment….you’re discussing, and the editorial coverage masquerading as “reporting” that the newspapers provided on real estate. Not talking about failing to cover the current downturn…more the entire weekly sections many papers produce that for years have done little more than recycle cheerleading press releases from the real estate industry.
funny how they pin the problem on the poor (subprime).
there are a brickload of homes for sale in grosse pointe shores right now and talk that the ford’s 120+’ honolulu blue hulled mega-yacht may not be making its yearly trek to the local yacht club.
subprime my ( l )
Did local TV news ignore housing bubble? Yes
Did local TV news ignore the housing bubble? Yes
this is less a situation where newspapers were in liege with Realtors and more a case where newspaper newsrooms have been cut back and thus not covering as much local news anymore…