I have a pretty much boundless contempt for the Arizona Republic. The paper’s real estate coverage is eclipsed in its stupidity only by its insipidity. There is no conceivable issue upon which ASU’s Jay Butler is not the absolute authority, and there is never an occasion when the news, no matter how good, could not be worse. I’m utterly amazed that they let me write for them — albeit, not very much — and I await that “Goodbye Look” phone call in my every waking minute. In fact, I think I deserve 1,500 words on the front page of the business section every Sunday, but that would require a different Republic — or perhaps an alternate universe.
But today comes vindication, yes?
No.
Glen Creno wrote a report on “Valley realty bloggers” and managed to omit any mention of Phoenix-area real estate webloggers. No Jay. No Jonathan. No Greg. No Russell. Here’s the really fun part: Of the “Valley realty bloggers” he does mention, only two are actually in the Phoenix area.
Who’s in the article?
- The Housing Doom bubble blog in Gilbert, AZ
- Shannon Hubbard’s Phoenix blog
- Housing Panic — in London, England
- I Am Facing Foreclosure — in Sacramento, CA
- The Real Estate Bloggers — in Atlanta, GA
Who’s not in the article? Their names are legion.
Is that link clear? Webloggers are constantly derided and diminished by mainstream media reporters who can’t do the simplest research.
The fact is, I don’t care. We’re talking to people who are paying attention. If the hometown paper were to discover what is going on under its nose in the epicenter of real estate weblogging, I would lay awake nights wondering what we had done wrong…
More: Jonathan Dalton, Jay Thompson.
Technorati Tags: arizona, arizona real estate, blogging, phoenix, phoenix real estate, real estate, real estate marketing
Shailesh says:
Greg,
“A prophet gets no honor in his own town”.
Hopefully the reporter will attend the Blogging Conference and change his tune.
Thanks,
Shailesh
June 13, 2007 — 11:16 am
Greg Swann says:
> “A prophet gets no honor in his own town”
Nah, we get snubbed all over…
> Hopefully the reporter will attend the Blogging Conference and change his tune.
Someday, you’ll be able to catch pork chops with a butterfly net. 😉
June 13, 2007 — 11:32 am
Doug Quance says:
Maybe we’re a no-mention because we couldn’t be pigeon-holed into that Pro-Doom or Pro-Bubble choice of camps that was given.
Oh well…
June 13, 2007 — 4:38 pm
Greg Swann says:
> Maybe we’re a no-mention because we couldn’t be pigeon-holed into that Pro-Doom or Pro-Bubble choice of camps that was given.
I was thinking after reading the article that we need a taxonomy of real estate weblogging.
June 13, 2007 — 4:41 pm
Todd Tarson says:
That’s alright Greg, even my blog got snubbed in the East Valley thingy… the journalist poached a quote from my ‘newsletter’ out of context even (which almost got me in hot-water with the county manager).
June 13, 2007 — 4:57 pm
John L. Wake says:
“taxonomy of real estate weblogging”
I don’t know what that means but I want it.
June 13, 2007 — 8:40 pm
Jay Thompson says:
According to Creno, “Housing blogs fall into two major categories. They either promote the idea that the market is headed for Armageddon, or they try to knock down that idea.”
Honestly, I see the majority of the Phoenix re.net falling smack in the middle of those two extremes. Mayhap this doesn’t fit into Creno’s or the Republic’s “vision” of what a real estate blog is, hence the glaring omission.
Of course if their vision lines up with Reagor’s “blog” then I’m just fine with being left out.
June 13, 2007 — 9:24 pm
Shannon Hubbard says:
Hey Greg,
The Republic article was definitely a joke. I even gave Glen the URL of your blog and Jay’s blog, along with a couple others. He clearly had another agenda with the article. But then what else does one expect from the Republic.
June 14, 2007 — 8:23 pm
Greg Swann says:
> The Republic article was definitely a joke.
Hi, Shannon,
I saw your post on the story. Good on ya, regardless of our surly griping.
June 15, 2007 — 6:16 am