Last week I laughed when I saw where my story about the Barbie Bandits was in the Google rankings. I called a couple of friends and told them, "Holy shit! My story ranks above MSNBC and a host of traditional news sources. Are people really getting their news from ME?!?!?"But judging by the way that the Old Media has handled this Casey Serin mess, maybe people should be getting their news from me!!! Indeed, it has been the bloggers who have broken this story, while the Old Media ran Casey-Serin-as-victim stories.
Traditional media's handling of this story has been grim, and it certainly lends credence to folks getting their information from alternative sources. At the very least, the Old Media folks should have cross-referenced their stories by speaking to law enforcement officials to give readers a full picture of the scope and potential punishment of Casey and Galina Serin's crimes.
It's lazy journalism, plain and simple. Anyone who has spent a brief amount of time actaully reading and researching Casey Serin's story is immediately struck by the extenxive chain of fraud that occurred. But print and glossy media has persisted in portraying Casey Serin (and by extension, his wife Galina Serin) as poor victims of the real estate bubble, predatory lending, or any other real estate buzzword of the day.
I find this particularly offensive. Or, in more typical TwelveYearsOfBeingAnnoyedByChloeSevigny speak, "What the FUCKING fuck FUCK?!?!?!" Casey and Galina Serin are not innocent victims of the real estate industry. They are the perpetrators of multiple crimes against various banks, lenders, and creditors!!!!
(If you missed yesterday's primer on charlatans Casey and Galina Serin, "Send Casey Serin to Prison", you might want to go back and read that first. Casey newbies should get caught up to truly understand the level of vile and vitriol that the blogosphere is leveling at him.)
Bloggers have gone out of their way to alert government agencies and creditors alike to Casey Serin's illegal activities. This includes tracking the complicity of his wife Galina Serin and other 'known associates'.
The rage in these posts, and in the comments, is palpable. But it's easy to understand why. People who have followed Casey Serin's story for any length of time are not just content to see him arrested. Nothing short of a ridiculously long prison term and FULL REPAYMENT of "every dirty penny" will suffice.
Whether writing about the complexity of mortgage fraud, deconstructing Casey's lame-ass attempts to dodge responsibility, or pointing out Galina's complicity, the blogosphere is just the beginning of the impending public response to Casey Serin.
So CHEERS to the bloggers. And a big "Boo! Hiss!" to the Old Guard. Here's our list of media sources that totally dropped the ball in fully informing the public about Casey Serin. In chronological order, here is the Casey Serin Media Hall of Shame:
San Francisco Chronicle
On October 6, 2006, the SF Gate posts a laughably optimistic story about Casey Serin's role in the real estate bubble. His ill intent is glossed over; instead, he is held up as some sort of poster-boy for failing markets and dodgy lenders.
"But by offering himself up as a penitent whipping boy of real estate, Serin has unwittingly offered us a glimpse into the fast-approaching future in which those high-flying real estate trade secrets come home to roost."
Wow. We surely cannot be referencing the same Casey Serin. Casey Serin is anything but "penitent."
USA Today
This is the one that brought Casey Serin into the national spotlight. In the October 22, 2006 edition, Noelle Knox writes If there's a poster child for everything that went wrong in the real estate boom, it just might be Casey Serin.
Um, if by "everything that went wrong" you mean EXTENSIVE MORTGAGE FRAUD, well then, okay. But no. Noelle Knox writes some esoteric bullshit that basically says, 'a lot of things can go wrong in real estate.' What a Pollyanna load of crap. Back to J-school, Ms. Knox.
Inman News
Matt Carter writes that Casey Serin bought eight homes in six states using 100 percent stated income loans, getting $15,000 to $50,000 cash back on every loan. First, this is the only time I've seen mention of six states. Judging from the depth of fraud committed, that could very well be true.
But since it has not come up anywhere else in print or online media, I question the voracity. Secondly, I would expect that the highbrow, real estate-only news bureau Inman would delve much more deeply into the casually typed phrase "15,000 to $50,000 cash back on every loan."
New York Magazine
As recently as February 12, 2007, Emily Nussbaum had evidently done enough research into Casey Serin to include him in her piece on twentysomethings revealing their lives on the internet. But she paints a plucky portrait of young Casey, merely writing a few paragraphs about his online confessional.
That he is confessing to multiple felonies doesn't seem to faze Ms. Nussbaum. In fact, that element is never mentioned. Perhaps she never got past the title of Casey Serin's blog to actually read one of the numerous instances where he details his crimes. That's quite a shame, because she missed the story entirely.
CBS 5 San Francisco
The most recent incident of a no-research fluff piece on Casey Serin occurred on March 7, 2007. John Lobertini presented yet another piece of Casey-Serin-as-victim-of-big-real-estate. God. Does anyone know how to fucking research anything anymore? Lobertini's piece is similar to the other circle-jerk pieces about Casey Serin, where journalists follow right down the path that Casey leads them.
Traditional media's handling of this story has been grim, and it certainly lends credence to folks getting their information from alternative sources. At the very least, the Old Media folks should have cross-referenced their stories by speaking to law enforcement officials to give readers a full picture of the scope and potential punishment of Casey and Galina Serin's crimes.
It's lazy journalism, plain and simple. Anyone who has spent a brief amount of time actaully reading and researching Casey Serin's story is immediately struck by the extenxive chain of fraud that occurred. But print and glossy media has persisted in portraying Casey Serin (and by extension, his wife Galina Serin) as poor victims of the real estate bubble, predatory lending, or any other real estate buzzword of the day.
I find this particularly offensive. Or, in more typical TwelveYearsOfBeingAnnoyedByChloeSevigny speak, "What the FUCKING fuck FUCK?!?!?!" Casey and Galina Serin are not innocent victims of the real estate industry. They are the perpetrators of multiple crimes against various banks, lenders, and creditors!!!!
(If you missed yesterday's primer on charlatans Casey and Galina Serin, "Send Casey Serin to Prison", you might want to go back and read that first. Casey newbies should get caught up to truly understand the level of vile and vitriol that the blogosphere is leveling at him.)
Bloggers have gone out of their way to alert government agencies and creditors alike to Casey Serin's illegal activities. This includes tracking the complicity of his wife Galina Serin and other 'known associates'.
The rage in these posts, and in the comments, is palpable. But it's easy to understand why. People who have followed Casey Serin's story for any length of time are not just content to see him arrested. Nothing short of a ridiculously long prison term and FULL REPAYMENT of "every dirty penny" will suffice.
Whether writing about the complexity of mortgage fraud, deconstructing Casey's lame-ass attempts to dodge responsibility, or pointing out Galina's complicity, the blogosphere is just the beginning of the impending public response to Casey Serin.
So CHEERS to the bloggers. And a big "Boo! Hiss!" to the Old Guard. Here's our list of media sources that totally dropped the ball in fully informing the public about Casey Serin. In chronological order, here is the Casey Serin Media Hall of Shame:
San Francisco Chronicle
On October 6, 2006, the SF Gate posts a laughably optimistic story about Casey Serin's role in the real estate bubble. His ill intent is glossed over; instead, he is held up as some sort of poster-boy for failing markets and dodgy lenders.
"But by offering himself up as a penitent whipping boy of real estate, Serin has unwittingly offered us a glimpse into the fast-approaching future in which those high-flying real estate trade secrets come home to roost."
Wow. We surely cannot be referencing the same Casey Serin. Casey Serin is anything but "penitent."
USA Today
This is the one that brought Casey Serin into the national spotlight. In the October 22, 2006 edition, Noelle Knox writes If there's a poster child for everything that went wrong in the real estate boom, it just might be Casey Serin.
Um, if by "everything that went wrong" you mean EXTENSIVE MORTGAGE FRAUD, well then, okay. But no. Noelle Knox writes some esoteric bullshit that basically says, 'a lot of things can go wrong in real estate.' What a Pollyanna load of crap. Back to J-school, Ms. Knox.
Inman News
Matt Carter writes that Casey Serin bought eight homes in six states using 100 percent stated income loans, getting $15,000 to $50,000 cash back on every loan. First, this is the only time I've seen mention of six states. Judging from the depth of fraud committed, that could very well be true.
But since it has not come up anywhere else in print or online media, I question the voracity. Secondly, I would expect that the highbrow, real estate-only news bureau Inman would delve much more deeply into the casually typed phrase "15,000 to $50,000 cash back on every loan."
New York Magazine
As recently as February 12, 2007, Emily Nussbaum had evidently done enough research into Casey Serin to include him in her piece on twentysomethings revealing their lives on the internet. But she paints a plucky portrait of young Casey, merely writing a few paragraphs about his online confessional.
That he is confessing to multiple felonies doesn't seem to faze Ms. Nussbaum. In fact, that element is never mentioned. Perhaps she never got past the title of Casey Serin's blog to actually read one of the numerous instances where he details his crimes. That's quite a shame, because she missed the story entirely.
CBS 5 San Francisco
The most recent incident of a no-research fluff piece on Casey Serin occurred on March 7, 2007. John Lobertini presented yet another piece of Casey-Serin-as-victim-of-big-real-estate. God. Does anyone know how to fucking research anything anymore? Lobertini's piece is similar to the other circle-jerk pieces about Casey Serin, where journalists follow right down the path that Casey leads them.
And while this is far from 'old media', it is worth noting that attention whore mortgage broker Nigel Swaby has put out several press releases, positing himself as the authoritative source on Casey Serin. Nigel Swaby chose the self-important headline Aspiring Web Journalist Lands Real Estate Story of the Year.
Well, that's really stretching it, isn't it? As you can tell from the timeline above, two major news outlets had already "landed" the story when he issued this press release on Halloween of 2006. (And regarding the timing, it's just too easy...I'm leaving that one alone.)
As I mentioned yesterday, I'm not the only one who finds the cozy relationship between Nigel Swaby and Casey Serin to be curious. I have to heartily agree with everyone who says they would be incredibly leery about working with a mortgage broker who has such close ties to an admitted felon. I really wonder what his bosses and coworkers at Integrity First Financial think about it.
Well, that's really stretching it, isn't it? As you can tell from the timeline above, two major news outlets had already "landed" the story when he issued this press release on Halloween of 2006. (And regarding the timing, it's just too easy...I'm leaving that one alone.)
As I mentioned yesterday, I'm not the only one who finds the cozy relationship between Nigel Swaby and Casey Serin to be curious. I have to heartily agree with everyone who says they would be incredibly leery about working with a mortgage broker who has such close ties to an admitted felon. I really wonder what his bosses and coworkers at Integrity First Financial think about it.
One last thing....I stumbled across an old blog of Casey Serin's. It was interesting in that was supposedly written on his 25th birthday. This was news, in a sense, since everyone thinks he's 24. But what really struck me was this:
Wait a minute....am I reading that correctly?!?!
Casey Serin was born on SEPTEMBER 11 ?!?!?!?
Talk about your 'day that will live in infamy'......
3 comments:
I stumbled across an old blog of Casey Serin's. It was interesting in that was supposedly written on his 25th birthday. This was news, in a sense, since everyone thinks he's 24.
He is 24. Your 24th birthday is the start of your 25th year, which is what he actually wrote. Believe it or not, for once Casey is completely correct!
(Great post otherwise, though)
no, he was born on September 10, 1982 according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Serin
If you read carefully, he posted on the first day of his 25th year, meaning he completed 24 years the day previous, Sept. 10 2006. Sept. 11 would make him 24 plus one day...
It's a screwy fucked up way of stating age, for sure, so par for the course there. You see the same crap in the obits, where somebody dies "in their 76th year" which means that they were 75 and change.
lol...thanks, guys. Alex sent me an email to check the blog for these comments. I would say that it's been a long couple of weeks and that I was really tired when I wrote that, but that would be way too Casey Serin to do. So I'll just acquiese and say that I fucked up. Thanks for clearing that up!
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