I feel like we have been taking one step forward and two steps backward. While we are seeing unprecedented advances with Artificial Intelligence at an accelerated pace, when it comes to the dissemination of information, we are going back to the dark ages. Getting credible news from a reliable source used to be a lot easier. When I first moved to New York, one of my favorite splurges (both time and money) was getting home delivery from the New York Times. I’d spend the week reading through every section and have a relatively unbiased idea of what was happening locally, nationally, and globally, in addition to being exposed to the arts, sciences, and real estate. I got a digestible, reliable, and comprehensive overview of the world around me. And I loved it.
But navigating the news now has become like walking through a minefield of misinformation, and I don’t enjoy it anymore. There are more sources but less credible options. Most information today is streamed over social media, and even once-respected publications now seem to prioritize sensationalism over substance, bending to the whims of advertisers and subscribers. These legitimate outlets are becoming more like their disruptors to compete for attention.
Instead of fostering a more informed and impartial understanding of global events, we are bombarded with misinformation, which fuels protests and debates about issues that people are ignorant about. And these dumb f$cks are too lazy to read a history book – but I digress.....
When it comes to real estate news, credible information has always been sparse, whether local, national, global, or even worse – our industry.
In its heyday, stories about real estate were hard to come by beyond The New York Times real estate section. There were only a handful of other publications. Our industry bar was lowered when the primary objective of the leading trade publication was selling impressions, often at the expense of inaccurate reporting and misleading the public regardless of the path of destruction left in its wake.
Everyone knows that celebrity sells, and if you want coverage in any publication, the easiest way to get it is to associate yourself, the listing, or a previous owner of the home with some celebrity status. A story with a celebrity in it is an “easy get.” But we deserve better—articles that empower us with knowledge, insights, and understanding, stories that help us navigate the complexities of buying a home, decipher market trends, and make informed decisions about our most significant investments.
You might get fewer impressions, but more people would prefer insight into these topics than knowing where Taylor Swift lives.
Side Bar – Impressions
One of my favorite recordings I recently discovered was this previously unreleased version of John Coltrane’s “Impressions.” This is a reminder that amidst the noise, there are still moments of beauty and brilliance waiting to be uncovered.
Click here to listen - I hope it does the same for you.
Let’s do this.
–Shaun