Is Big Media Biased or Lazy?

Over the past several years we've heard the same winded comments from big media regarding the housing bubble, namely that real estate prices are headed up, up, up! Even over the past six months, when there's been a clear slowdown in the marketplace, big media still trouts out, looks on camera, says (with a straight face), "Is the Housing Boom about to Bust? Let's ask some real estate agents!"

Yes, it's that silly. Over on Another F@cked Borrower, SoCalMtgGuy shares San Diego 10 PM News's savvy as they brought on some experts who claimed NOW WAS THE TIME TO BUY. And earlier, in this blog, I talked about a These Days radio show on KPBS that was rather disappointing, as the two guests were both real estate-related professionals and made the standard Oohs and Ahhs about the industry such salesmen tend to make about their field.

There are news sources that are more level headed and don't pitch the hype, such as The Economist. Each region, too, seems to have their own more responsible news outlet, one that is less heard, but is intelligent enough to not question salesmen on the strengths or weaknesses of the salesmens' industries. In San Diego, it's The Voice of San Diego, which has an entire section dedicated to the housing mess. The good news is that The Voice provides a more balanced view than any of the traditional news outlets.

All of this begs the question, why are news media outlets so happy to bring on mouthpieces who are more than happy to hype up their market? I can only think of two possible reasons:

1. Laziness - after all, we're usually talking about a 500-word column, or three-minute piece on the news. Why spend the effort doing the research, asking the critical questions, and so on, when it's so much easier to just bring on someone who's more than happy to be there, and let them fill your airtime, or help fill your article with quotes?
2. Bias - with the boom in the housing sector traditional media has fared well with ads from realtors, mortgage brokers, lenders, and builders. Don't bite the hand that feeds you!

Whatever it is, it's disappointing to see or read such news reports and think that there are people out there who haven't done their own research and are believing the comments about the industry by its own insiders. Fortunately less biased news is available, but it requires a bit more of a search.