Responding to critics of real estate coverage

Melanie Sill, the editor of the Sacramento Bee, writes Sunday about the paper’s coverage of the slumping real estate market, which has drawn numerous complaints.

Sill wrote, “Our reporting shouldn’t be overly gloomy, of course, but we shouldn’t tilt news coverage to try to be ‘positive,’ as some critics suggest.

“Business editor Cathie Anderson’s staff digs into the numbers, and we’re working more and more to get ahead of trends.

“Anderson guides her reporters to look beyond statistics for news in people’s lives: job losses, grocery price increases and foreclosures, for example.

“We’re also increasing the level of detail we offer through sacbee.com. Among the assets: a foreclosure map searchable by location and detailed charts on home sales by ZIP code, with more to come in the near future.

“The Bee knows the housing story because we’ve covered it closely through its rise and now into its fall.”

Read more here.