Two recent issues of Media Monitoring News were delivered with improper formatting. As a result, the majority of recipients were unable to read those issues.  This "Review Issue" contains key stories from those issues, including detailed results of the 2004 Worldwide Market Survey of Media Monitoring.

Results of 2004 Worldwide Market Survey on Media Monitoring
New PR Survey: Media Measurement, Evaluation and Analysis
New Blog Monitoring Service
PR Grants Available; December 31 Application Deadline
CyberAlert 14-day F.R.E.E TRIAL

    Slipstream Group, LLC, (www.slipstream.com) an independent market research company, this week released the results of the 2004 Worldwide Market Survey of Media Monitoring. CyberAlert, Inc., a worldwide media monitoring company, is making the executive summary of the report available f.r.e.e. of charge at its website: http://www.cyberalert.com/execsummary.html.
    Over 1,400 users of media monitoring services for public relations and marketing completed the online survey during the summer. The survey results show for the first time how companies, government-agencies, not-for-profit organizations, and PR agencies use media monitoring services. In addition, the report examines the needs, expectations, and levels of satisfaction of users of media monitoring services worldwide and evaluates the full range of news monitoring services. The report includes in-depth analysis of the current state of media monitoring, budget expenditures, user assessment of key news monitoring features, user satisfaction with various types of news monitoring services, and more.
    Survey findings include:

• On average, PR and marketing professionals use three to four different means to monitor news media.
• 62% of users currently pay for paper-based clipping services (e.g.: Burrelle's/Luce, Bacon's Information) and 28% say it is their primary source of news monitoring.
• 54% currently use electronic news services (e.g.: Factiva, Lexis-Nexis) and 42% use online news monitoring services (e.g.: CyberAlert).
• $808 per month is the median budget for outsourced media monitoring services or just under $10,000 per year.
• 50% of users want clips from print publications delivered within one day or faster.
• 29% of users check their clips only once per week or less.
• Only 1 in 5 users of media monitoring services is "very satisfied" with their current primary provider.
• Free news search engines received the lowest satisfaction ratings.
• Inadequate media coverage, missed clips and slow delivery are the chief criticisms of the media monitoring services.
• PR professionals continue to focus their media monitoring efforts on newspapers, even though recent studies show that consumers have shifted their attention from print to electronic news media, especially cable TV and the Internet.
• There is disparity between users' expectations and the services they purchase. While users expect very low levels of missed clips and next day delivery, they continue to spend their budgets on paper-based press clipping services that are unlikely to meet their expectations.

    In general, the survey results show that users rate the newer electronic news monitoring services higher than traditional press clipping services and in-house monitoring. Although users have clearly not jettisoned the traditional approaches to news monitoring, they are making the transition to newer electronic services that better meet their expectations for fewer missed clips, more timely clip delivery and digital storage of their clips for improved media measurement.
    Click Here for the f.r.e.e. 7-page Executive Summary at http://www.cyberalert.com/execsummary.html.
    The complete survey report (47 pages, 34 tables) of the 2004 Worldwide Market Survey on Media Monitoring is available at a special introductory price of $99.95 from CyberAlert (http://www.cyberalert.com/surveypromo.com). Upon request, Slipstream Group will develop customized reports for individual companies. For additional information, contact surveys@slipstreamgroup.com.

    Slipstream Group is currently conducting a follow-on survey, the 2004 Worldwide Survey of Media Measurement, Evaluation and Analysis, designed to assess... The survey is available at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=94457567901. All PR professionals are invited to complete the survey which requires less than 10 minutes. All respondents who complete the survey will be entered into a drawing for a free year of news monitoring from CyberAlert or $500 in cash.

    CyberAlert, the worldwide media monitoring service, announced this week that it is now monitoring over 100,000 Web logs ("blogs") on a daily basis. The blogs monitored by CyberAlert are largely focused on key industry areas including technology, health and medicine, financial services, automotive, consumer goods, entertainment, environment, activist issues and corporate governance. The cost of blog monitoring is $195 per month per search query with up to 10 key words and 1,000 clips per month. Clients may specify blogs to be added to the daily blog monitoring list. Free Trial available for a limited time at: https://secure.cyberalert.com/ftorder.html

    For the second year, CyberAlert (www.cyberalert.com), the online media monitoring company, is awarding PR grants to not-for-profit organizations. In January 2004, CyberAlert awarded grants to 16 organizations in the United States and Canada.
    The PR grants range in value from $2,340 to $3,540 for each grant and consist of one full year of f.r.e.e. online news monitoring services. For the coming year, CyberAlert has committed to awarding a minimum of 10 grants with a total value of at least $25,000.
    All not-for-profit, educational and charitable organizations in the United States and Canada are eligible to apply for the grants. CyberAlert is accepting grant applications until December 31 and will announce the grant recipients in January. Previous award-winners are not eligible for another award.
    More information about the PR Grants program, including a list of this year's 2004 award winners, is available at http://www.cyberalert.com/prgrants.html.
    A simple and secure grant application is available online at https://secure.cyberalert.com/grants.html.

    CyberAlert is now offering a 14-day F.R.E.E. TRIAL for each of its major products including CyberAlert 4.0 for monitoring over 25,000 online news sources worldwide in 17 languages; Netpinions 2.0 for monitoring newsgroups, message boards and forums; and BlogSquirrel for automated daily monitoring of over 100,000 blogs. The F.R.E.E. TRIAL is available at https://secure.cyberalert.com/ftorder.html.

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