Arizona Republic: Mainstream Media at its Finest.

Mr. Glen Creno of our hometown rag The Arizona Republic released a gem of an article today.

Titled, "Valley realty bloggers generate strong opinions – but beware", Creno opens with a peek at HousingDoom, which is indeed a real estate related blog housed right here in my home suburb of Gilbert. He talked to "Twist" – the brains behind the Doom. I'll go on record right here and say that HousingDoom is in my feed reader, and I have on many occasions appreciated what Twist has to say. She's a sharp lady. A little one-sided and biased in my opinion, but hey, it's her blog.

HousingPanic gets a mention. I've read that too but find Keith Brand to be bordering on psychotic and his minions lacking in basic human skills. What was interesting to me was that Panic was one of only three blogs mentioned directly in the article about real estate blogging in the Valley — and it's currently based in London. As in England.

Blog Arizona was the only real estate professionals blog mentioned. I like Shannon's blog. It was one of the main factors in my decision to start real estate weblogging. I wish she'd write more.

Creno (or the Republic) threw a "sidebar" on the online version that notes three more blogs: 1) "IamFacingForeclosure" which is penned by the should-be-convicted-felon Casey Serin — in Sacramento. As in California; 2) The Real Estate Bloggers – out of Atlanta. As in Georgia; and 3) Republic real estate reporter Catherine Reagor's "Blog". Finally, another Valley blog in an article supposedly about Valley real estate blogging! The quality and depth of Reagor's "blog" is best summed up in a comment on her most recent "post" by "Kev6563" who says:

"Wow. This passes as a blog entry at AZ Republic? Can I have your job? I could have whipped out this article during my morning dump."

Now I'm sure someone is going to read this post and think, "Sour grapes. He's just pissed his little blog didn't get in the paper." I assure you nothing could be further from the truth. I've been quoted before in the local papers, even in BusinessWeek. Sure, it's cool, nice for the ego, and my mother thinks it's really great. But I honestly could care less about getting mentioned again in the Republic.

The point is, here is a "mainstream media" reporter who's supposedly writing a piece on Valley real estate bloggers and their opinions. Yet he manages to squeeze in six blogs, only three of which are actually in the Valley and one of those barely qualifies as a blog.

It would have taken all of 20 seconds of "research" for Mr. Creno to find several real estate webloggers in the Valley. Technorati, the de facto standard in blog search is the obvious place to start. Heck, why not just Google "Phoenix real estate blog"?

Incapable of typing a few characters into a search engine? Look at a blog roll on just about any major real estate blog and you'll find Valley based bloggers like: Greg Swann, Jonathan Dalton, John Wake, Christoph Schweiger, Russell Shaw, Shailesh Ghimire, Tony Marriott, Butterworth Group, Jim and Andrea Messenger… Shall I go on? (and no offense intended to any I left off this list. There are more).

Failing to include at least one of these bloggers in an article on Valley real estate bloggers and their opinions is quite simply one lousy piece of "reporting". Sadly, this is representative of the dreck we've come to expect from our local papers when it comes to real estate coverage.

You want opinions and data on the Phoenix real estate market? Read some local real estate bloggers. Get both sides via HousingDoom and others. Just don't waste your time, money and landfill space on the Republic and their "reporting".

Others Opine: Greg Swann, Jonathan Dalton

[tags]Phoenix real estate blogging, Arizona Republic, mainstream media[/tags]

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John M

Greetings from The Dark Side ;-)

I was wondering why there wasn't a more comprehensive selection of blogs, but perhaps a side-by-side comparison of Debi with, say, Greg would not have suited Mr Creno's (and the Republic's) agenda. That being said, Ben Jones' classic bubble blog, often profiled in the mainstream as high up the food chain as Newsweek, is based not far away -- somewhere around Flagstaff, I think.

It's a shame Creno didn't play ball with your viral marketing aspirations, but have patience; I sense a follow-up could be in the offing.

Jay - The Phoenix Real Estate

John -

Welcome from the bright side... :)

I suspect you're spot-on when you say a comparison between Debi and Greg wouldn't fit the "agenda". Unfortunate, as it would have made for a far more compelling read.

God only knows what that agenda is. One would think their primary objective would be to report the news, with selling papers being an intimately close second.

The bottom line in my lengthy diatribe really boils down to this:

A reporter writes a story headlining Valley realty bloggers but includes bloggers from CA, GA, and England? I just don't get it, especially when there are plenty of great Valley based realty blogs to chose from -- on both sides of the fence.

And the print media wonders why their circulation and ad revenue is spiraling into oblivion....

Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

Tony Marriott

Jay - Thanks for the mention. Creno's "effort" serves to reinforce my opinion of "mainstream newspapers" - they are good for wrapping Fish & Chips....but not much else.

Tom Royce

I got to tell you, with all the talent in Phoenix I was shocked my little site was mentioned. I think that the writer searched Google for Real Estate Blogs and mine popped up and that was that.

Of course, if the writer did cover some of the better Phoenix Real Estate Bloggers in the article and their boss read them, this writer may have feared the competition.

Keep up the great work.

Tom

Christoph Schweiger

Just got done reading Jonathan's blog post and I am trying to catch up with today's happening. Unfortunately I had to take care of other obligations today and wished I could have put in my 2 cents earlier. There is to say that I am surprised and honored that my little blog was perceived as significant by my fellow bloggers.

Shannon Hubbard

Hello Jay,

You're right about the article, it left quite a bit to be desired. I even gave Glen your URL and the URL to Greg's blog when he interviewed me.

By the way, in reference to "I wish she'd write more"...I think that was a compliment...perhaps you even motivated me...Take care!

Jay - The Phoenix Real Estate

Shannon - absolutely that was meant as a compliment. On re-reading what I wrote, I can see how that might be confused. I should have said, "I wish she'd write more *often*".

Thanks for at least trying to get Glen some info. Though you'd think a reporter would be able to use the Internet at the fundamental level required for his research.

Shailesh

Jay,

It's a shame that the article didn't do a better job with the local blogs. Thanks for the mention by the way. Its an honor to be listed with the "big dogs".

Thanks,
Shailesh