Members of the Central Oregon business community apparently believe they can make the real estate slump go away if they just think positive – and lean on the news media go along with their spin.
The Central Oregon Builders Association (COBA), the Central Oregon Association of Realtors (COAR) and the Bend, Redmond, LaPine, Sunriver and Crooked River Ranch Chambers are kicking off a public relations blitz based on the theme that this is the “Best Buyers Market in 20 Years” in local real estate. COBA has put together a “rollout kit” (downloadable as a PDF file on its website) that tells participating businesses how to do their bit.
It begins with a “to-do list” that instructs businesses to download an e-mail banner and posters from the COBA site, study up about the market and “be able to explain why it is a great buyers market,” and “write up a phone answering script for your office” emphasizing that this is “the best buyers’ market in 20 years.”
But here’s the good part: Businesses are advised to “write up a press release of a ‘Good News’ story, send it out and follow up with a phone call. Repeat Often!! This is key!! We have to produce enough ‘Good News’ stories to move the national ‘wire’ stories from the front page or the lead in story.”
(See, if we can just push all those unpleasant facts off the front page, everything will be peaches and cream again.)
“Following the initial press release,” the “rollout kit” continues, “each participating business will be responsible for releasing ‘Good News’ stories. These press releases will cover a variety of subjects predominately [sic] focusing on ‘good news’ stories and op ed opinions of all participating businesses. Each of the organizations should actively solicit ‘good news’ and ‘actual fact’ stories.”
And now the crowning touch:
“Additionally each of the participating organizations are [sic] requested to utilize their advertising strength & partnerships to ‘economically encourage’ local media to print and broadcast the stories. … Utilize your purchasing power. We all buy ads from the same entities who we want to pay attention to our press releases. Use your ‘economic influence’ from the ad sales side to help push your press release.”
Translation: Threaten to pull your advertising if the newspaper/radio/TV station doesn’t play ball.
Having spent more than a few years in the news business, The EYE can attest that no self-respecting editor reacts favorably when somebody tries to bully him or her into running a press release. In fact, the editor is more likely to tell him to stick his press release where the sun don’t shine.
So that’s our advice, COBA. Take it – no charge.
This article appears in Feb 21-27, 2008.
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It would really be terrible for the media to be positive. If the liberal media cannot be destroying someone or something it is just not happy! There is always good and bad news, but it is OK to give good news.
Ah yes, those evil “liberal media” are to blame for everything that’s wrong in the world, from the real estate slump to dandruff.
Do you really think The Bulletin is part of the “liberal media”? It remained in denial of the real estate bust long, long after it started.
An inconvenient fact of life: You can’t make something be true by wanting it to be true or by saying it’s true when it’s not. Believing that you can is what psychologists call “magical thinking.” It’s common among children, and plenty of people never outgrow it, viz. the perennial success of bullshit books like “The Secret.”
Even if the builders’ and realtors’ plan were to go off like clockwork, it would still only work on people who get all their news from Central Oregon media.
Granted, there are people like that, but they are not the upper crust by any means. The people who read nothing but The Bulletin and watch nothing but KTVZ don’t have the money or influence to do anything about the Central Oregon real estate market.
Since COBA and COAR have to know it won’t do anything significant for the market, maybe the real reason for the, ahem, “public relations” campaign is for the local real estate community to feel like the cock-of-the-walk again. A couple of years ago those folks RAN this town. Nowadays saying that you’re a developer, contractor, mortgage broker or real estate agent gets you only a pitying smile and the words “cash up front, please.”