NAR Responds to 60 Minutes: President's Email to NAR Members

NAR President Pat V. Combs emailed NAR members the following message the day after an inaccurate 60 Minutes segment about the real estate industry aired:

Dear Fellow REALTOR®:
I am disappointed and dismayed at the biased story that 60 Minutes aired on Sunday evening (May 13, 2007). I want to let you know that we've been working to stay on top of this story.

One of the most difficult challenges we face is educating the news media about today's real estate industry. There's no better example than this 60 Minutes show. For more than a year, NAR worked with the producers who put the segment together and offered several spokespersons to be interviewed for the show, including myself. Yet, NAR's voice was strangely and noticeably absent from the segment, though CBS gave time to two critics who disagree with our policies on the display of listings on the Internet.

At times, NAR and REALTORS® have often been the subject of less than accurate news coverage. Your association and its professional staff are making every effort to get the REALTOR® message out to the news media. The result is that only a fraction -- less than 5 percent -- of the vast news media we receive is negative.

We encourage all of you to contact CBS to voice your concerns -- maybe have some of your satisified customers do the same.
Thank you for your support,
Pat V. Combs
2007 NAR President