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.)
