The following is an excerpt from a chapter in the manual 
"How to Measure Your Communication Programs" by Angela D. Sinickas 
copyright 2005 Angela D. Sinickas. All rights reserved.   ISBN 0-9661757-1-9

Chapter 7

Measuring Media Relations

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      Measuring media relations used to be simple -- just collect all the clips 
resulting from a news release and weigh them by the pound. Then clip counting became 
a bit more sophisticated, looking just at the coverage that reached our key target 
audiences. Many PR agencies now excel at different ways of analyzing the coverage 
obtained, but few go the extra step to see if anyone in the target audience actually recalls
reading the stories and if the coverage affected their knowledge, their attitudes or their
behavior in ways favorable to the organization.
In this chapter you will learn about the different ways to measure the effectiveness of 
your media relations:
  • An overview of the most typical ways clips are analyzed by PR agencies,
including the not-recommended "advertising value equivalency."
  • Content analysis of media clips to see how accurately they match
the original releases.
  • A way to measure how effectively the media relations department has
avoided potential negative coverage.
  • How to survey journalists to see how well your media relations activities
compare with those of your competitors.
  • Questions to add to existing market research studies to help isolate the
impact media coverage has on your audience's attitudes about your
organization and intentions to buy its products and services.
  • Ways to track changes in audience behaviors against your media coverage.
(End of Excerpt)
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