Four Ways the Internet is Making
Media Monitoring a Challenge
(And what you can do about it!)

The nature of media monitoring has changed
dramatically over the years. What once was exclusively print-based has evolved to include broadcast and online venues. The Internet transformed it all. Virtually all major print and broadcast news sources now have electronic counterparts. And, there are thousands of publications and millions of Web forums that are only accessible electronically.

In addition to making an entire universe of news and business information available for one’s own personal use, the Web, in all its forms, has changed the landscape for PR professionals and the media monitoring industry as well. To make sure you are reaching your target audience and capturing all of the news you have worked so hard to generate, an understanding of the relationship between the printed version of a publication and its electronic counterparts is essential.

			One Newspaper, Two (very different) Publications
			A newspaper’s Web site is not always identical to the print publication. It may carry many of the same stories, but it is often filled with other additional syndicated stories as well. It rarely carries all of the stories that you find in the regional editions or special sections of the printed version of the newspaper. Conversely, news Web sites can include unique content not found in the printed edition of a newspaper or magazine.
			The Online Publication Delay
			Some newspapers do not post certain stories to their free-of-charge Web sites until a day or two after the date of publication in the printed version.
			The “Subscriber Only” Content Wall
			If you are not a paid subscriber, or at least a registered reader, you will not always be able to access all of the articles. A publication’s Web site now has varying levels of readership. To read “the full story” you are often prompted to “register here”. Sometimes that registration requires very limited demographic information and other times, you need to give them your full contact information. Going one level deeper, so that you can read the complete contents of the printed version, often requires a paid subscription.
			The Online News Advantage (and Challenge)
			A major advantage of online news is that it can be updated frequently. A story that was posted to a site in the morning, could be gone or revised by mid-afternoon. The Web sites of major newspapers and magazines can also include “online only” interactive and/or multimedia elements. For example, real estate and employment sections often carry links that take you to sites where you can access more pertinent details on the subject being presented. Many sites now offer rankings of the most popular articles of the day based upon the number of times articles are e-mailed from the site to other readers.

To responsibly address the challenge presented by this burgeoning and ever-changing media landscape, professionals must be certain that they are monitoring every level of Internet news, rather than just what is convenient to them at any given moment. News that is posted to free Web sites is just as important as the news that is only available to registered readers and subscribers. What’s posted on well-respected blogs and discussed in chat rooms is important as well.

It takes the right tools to do any job well. BurrellesLuce is well equipped. We monitor the news that is posted to free Web sites. We monitor the portion of the site that requires a registration. And, we pay the subscriptions that are required to gain access to the electronic replica of the printed version. In addition to that, we monitor thousands of online publications that are never printed, as well as blogs and other Web forums that often carry news and informal comments that give our clients a competitive advantage. To learn more, download the Press Clippings Fact Sheet.