Blanche Evans of Realty Times Sounds Desperate

Blanche Evans, the editor for Realty Times, has a post 'Are Banks, Newspapers Behind Recent Real Estate Industry Rants?.' Thanks to Nikki at Baltimore Housing Bubble for the hat tip. Blanche Evans' post sounds extremely desperate. She attacks the media for some unfavorable publicity related to the housing market.

First, the blow below the belt.

On Tuesday, June 20, 2006, dozens of newspapers across the nation published the so-called report, "How The Real Estate Cartel Harms Consumers and How Consumers Can Protect Themselves," by the executive director of the Consumer Federation of America.

Then the uppercut, published the same day in the New York Times by a Brookings Institution senior fellow. "Commission Accomplished" is also a diatribe that criticizes the real estate industry and its commissions. Both reports are unabashed, unsubstantiated opinion pieces, and what's strange is that they both appeared on exactly the same day. Why?

Dozens of news services gleefully joined in the tarring and feathering of the real estate industry by reporting the CFA opinion piece as news when it should have been placed in the editorial section along with the Brookings Institution fellow's piece.

News organizations reported that the consumer group called the real estate industry a "cartel." Not one paper questioned why neither the CFA report or the Brookings Institute editorial had any quotes, facts, or anything other than the opinion of the authors. The real estate industry's side of the commission question was all but ignored by virtually every newspaper.

The bubbleheads were ignored last year. It seems that what she is really upset about is the attack on real estate commissions.

What we have is two venerable research institutions slamming real estate commissions on exactly the same day using the biggest name newspapers in the country.

She claims it was a planned attack. Blance Evan then goes on to declare war on the media that published the CFA (pdf)

What really ought to happen here is two things:

1. Every Realtor in America should jerk their housing ads to any newspaper that published the Brookings or the CFA "editorials." We should have a advertising holiday where not one agent puts an ad in the newspaper out of protest. Then, we can see if not having newspaper ads really hurt sales, which my guess is, it won't.
2. Forward this story to every Realtor in America so they'll stop putting money in the enemy's war chest. Every dime you give to newspapers is a dime that will be used to put you out of business. Stop supporting any company that wants to put you out of business!

If money talks for donors, it should sure as hell talk for advertisers.

Wow! She is pretty desperate. The housing industrial complex is scared. Many in the housing industrial complex have made significant money during the unsustainable boom years. Now, as the housing market is declining many feel threatened and a few are lashing back. Watch out it will be a rough ride.