New York columnist Jimmy Breslin once said, “rage is the only quality which has kept me, or anybody I have ever studied, writing columns for newspapers.”
There has been a lot of controversy over the past two days about an article posted to this website with regard to low mortgage rates. Some of the comments have bordered on rage. There have been suggestions that the article is basically an advert for a broker; that the posting of a low rate is immoral and unethical; that posting rates will kill the industry.
All of these points are valid. It has always been my position to never interfere with web postings and forum chat because it is a place for interested parties to express their opinions, their concerns and even their rage about what is happening in the industry. The reason the article was posted was to share with members of the broker community what one company is doing. We also posted an article about TMG’s 20th Anniversary – some might say we’re promoting that company.
Web comments are common and we like to read them because it lets us know what is important to the industry. It’s not often we get telephone calls but this morning I got one from a broker in Calgary who was upset about the posting and asked that it be removed. The broker felt that it was a blatant advert promoting one company. Not only that, but that the content of the article was unethical and basically illegal.
When I get calls, I take them seriously. That someone felt strongly enough to make a phone call to an editor to express concern…and anger.. .means that we hit a nerve and it is something that needs to addressed.
It basically comes down to one question: What is news?
News has two priorities: it must be current, and it must mean something to people with the objective of informing an audience. It’s about telling people what's going on in their community – in this instance, the broker community. When I see a press release or a news item come across my desk I think about our readership – is it something of interest to them. Clearly, the sheer number of comments and the strong emotions that were provoked by the posting shows there certainly was interest.
Then I look at the intent of the item. In this case it was clear to me that the marketing department was trying to get a message out to consumers about their low rates but because we are not a consumer site, I felt that it would be of interest to other brokers to know what one company was doing – for better or for worse.
My Calgary caller asked if his company had a new process that they wanted to get free press about would I print it – probably. It may not get him any clientele because, as I said, we are not a consumer site. But if any company is doing something out-of-the-ordinary, then I believe other agents and brokers might be interested.
If a press release or article is simply about a company promoting themselves, then no, it’s not of interest to our readers – unless they are offering something unique to the marketplace, like for example, offering mortgages for condos on the Moon. In this case the company was talking very specifically about the having the “lowest” mortgage rate. I see that is as something of interest to readers and it definitely was informative.
The other reason I posted the article was because of the nature of the message. There are strong opinions in the industry surrounding the issue of brokers offering such low rates. Brokers and agents are concerned that this type of offering hurts the industry and I felt the issue deserved some attention and discussion.
I appreciate all the comments and calls about this posting and I think it deserves an article in a future issue of CMP Magazine. I welcome e-mails and phone calls from anyone who would like to speak to me about this particular issue or, for that matter, any other issue that we could cover in upcoming issues of the magazine.
I can be reached at 416-644-8740 ext. 250 or via e-mail at gina.monaco@kmimedia.ca or you can send your comments on this thread.
Until then, rage on!