Media Moment: KC Stanfield

KC Stanfield is a reporter with Crittenden Research, Inc., which publishes targeted real state publications, such as The Crittenden Report: Real Estate Financing, The Crittenden Retail Tenants Report, and Crittenden’s The Apartment Report.

Q: What made you want to become a journalist?

I initially wanted to go into video game journalism. I really liked the idea of writing about and reviewing one of my hobbies. That dream ended pretty quickly once I got my bachelor’s degree in journalism. Everything is so carefully gated by PR reps that most game coverage isn’t very fulfilling to write. So, I took my skills to writing about business and fell into the multifamily niche.

Q: Do you consider yourself a writer first or a reporter first?

Contrary to my official title, I’d consider myself more of a writer. Covering nationwide multifamily trends means I can get in touch with most people at my desk, barring the occasional conference. I think the reporter title is an honor you get when you’re hitting the streets or doing deep investigative journalism.

Q: Because you work for such a niche publication, do you tend to hear more from PR reps who understand your market and your audience or do you hear from PR reps who have no idea what you write about?

I’d say it’s about 50/50. Most of the reps for multifamily companies that I reach out to know, or at least have a basic grasp, on the business and audience I’m writing for. With that said, I still get more than my fair share of emails about topics that I could never cover because they wouldn’t interest our audience.

Q: What’s something that most people don’t know about you?

A lot of people might not know I wrote for a rock/metal publication before writing about multifamily. I even got to interview Anthrax, the thrash metal band, for an article.

Q: I’m stealing a question from a soccer podcast that I listen to and it’s intentionally open-ended: What do people need to know?

One of the issues I hear a lot about is the affordability crisis of housing in major cities. A lot of people will blame landlords for raising rents and pricing the working class out of many locations, when the problem stems from a lack of housing to begin with, which is usually a symptom from regulations, NIMBYism, a slow bureaucratic process, or a combination of all three. Real estate will always be heavily tied to supply and demand metrics. Developers will always want to build in the dense cities and building new supply is the best long-term solution for helping out the average renter.

Also, the best Mexican food place in San Diego is a hole-in-the-wall called Chiquitas.

Thank you KC Stanfield, for being a Media Moment!