Media monitoring p5&6

Overview

The instructor introduces media monitoring and social listening, demonstrates three free tools, and assigns an individual midterm project. Students will monitor a company’s coverage for one week and present their findings.

Media-Monitoring Tools

Google Alerts

Google Alerts monitors web content, especially online news and blogs. The instructor describes it as quick and easy to use.

To set up an alert:

1. Enter a keyword or phrase, such as a company name or a topic related to the company.
2. Choose how often alerts should be delivered and which sources to include.
3. Select language and region settings if needed, then review the preview.
4. Choose an email address to receive the results.
5. Create the alert. To stop receiving notifications, delete it from the alerts list.

Talkwalker Alerts

Talkwalker Alerts can monitor news, blogs, discussions, and Twitter-related results. Users enter a search query, choose result types and language settings, and have results sent by email. The instructor presents it as an alternative to Google Alerts.

Social Searcher

Social Searcher collects mentions and provides an overview of discussion and sentiment across social-media platforms. The demonstration includes results from platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest.

Its results are aggregated, so users still need to inspect and analyze the material manually.

Tool Limitations

Other media-monitoring and social-listening tools are available, but more advanced systems may be paid and technically complex. The demonstrated tools primarily gather information; they do not replace human analysis.

Midterm Assignment: One-Week Media-Monitoring Report

The assignment is individual. Students should:

1. Choose a company or organization to monitor.

   • An internship organization is recommended.
   • If it is too small to generate enough coverage, students may choose a larger company as a case study.

2. Select relevant keywords, such as the company’s name, a related organization, or a key issue.

3. Choose a monitoring tool.

   • Use Google Alerts or Talkwalker Alerts. Using both is permitted, but the instructor recommends using one to make reviewing results more manageable.

4. Set a one-week monitoring period.

   • Students choose the dates and should plan time for collecting and analyzing results.
   • Results will arrive by email and should be reviewed manually.

5. Analyze the results and prepare a PowerPoint report.

The report should include:

• Opening description: Student name, company, monitoring period, tool used, and keywords.
• Article and media totals: Number of articles found and number of distinct media outlets represented.
• Five most active media outlets: Rank outlets by the number of relevant articles they published.
• Five main topics: Identify the topics that appeared most often and assess coverage of each as positive, neutral, or negative.
• Tone indicators: Explain the words or evidence behind each tone judgment. For example, terms such as “loss” or “corruption” may indicate negative coverage, while language about recovery or profit may indicate positive coverage.
• Frequently mentioned company figures: Identify spokespersons, consultants, or other company-related people who were quoted or mentioned. Include up to five if available; report fewer if the articles contain fewer relevant figures.
• Qualitative conclusion: Summarize what the coverage suggests overall, including its general tone, prominent topics, and frequently mentioned figures.
• Article links: Include links to the analyzed articles, grouped by day, so the results can be checked.

The instructor recommends reviewing articles regularly rather than leaving the work until the end. The transcript gives a submission deadline of October 24 at 23:59, though the date wording is somewhat unclear in the auto-generated captions.

Speakers and Sources

• Instructor: Unnamed; explains the tools and assignment.
• Student: Unnamed; briefly asks the instructor to repeat the explanation.
• Tools demonstrated or named: Google Alerts, Talkwalker Alerts, and Social Searcher.
• Information sources for the assignment: News articles, blogs, online discussions, and social-media results collected through the monitoring tools.