Clip (News Clip) and Clipping Services

A clip, or news clip, is an actual copy of an article about an organization or company that has appeared in the media. Traditionally, news clips were limited to print articles, but today, “clippings” can consist of print, broadcast, and online media sources.

Clipping services, also known as media monitoring services, will monitor the media for references of a client's organization or company and supply the client with a compilation of the clips. These clips are essential to gauging the success of a media relations campaign because they allow the client to keep track of how many times the organization or company was mentioned and where these articles appeared. Information gained from media monitoring services allows communications professionals to gather important insight about how their organization is being portrayed in the media and what topics are deemed newsworthy, as well as what reporters are covering the topics.

There are many companies that will keep track of media “hits” for an organization on a feefor-subscription basis. Some companies are limited to one medium, whereas others will not only keep track of all media, but will also analyze and interpret the numbers. Some of the best known clipping services include BurrellesLuce (http://www.burrellesluce.com), Bacon's (http://www.bacons.com), [Page 133]Vocus (http://www.vocus.com), Lexis-Nexis (http://www.lexisnexis.com), CyberAlert (http://www.cyberalert.com), EWatch (http://www.ewatch.com), CyberScan (http://www.clippingservice.com), and a host of other companies that have developed in the past few years.

Originally, only print media were monitored. When Burrelle's began its service in 1888, only New York City daily newspapers were included in the service. Today, however, Burrelle's and other companies that provide monitoring services scan not only newspapers, but also magazines, radio and TV broadcasts, wire services, and various news programs found on the Internet. Additionally, media from across the United States and international sources are often included in the service.

Monitoring services have taken their products a step further and now will monitor the Internet for rumors about a company as well as search for general news stories. By catching negative chatter about a company in Internet chat rooms and discussion forums, corporations can become aware of the scuttlebutt that is circulating online and can swiftly respond to rumors if necessary.

Subscribing to these services may be cost prohibitive for small companies and organizations. Annual costs for a media monitoring service can easily surpass $30,000; therefore, it is necessary to determine whether the considerable cost justifies the means, or if it would be possible to subscribe to a more limited service.