Media evaluation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Media evaluation is a discipline of the social sciences and centres on the analysis of media content rating the exposure using a number of pre-designated criteria commonly including tonal value and presence of key messages. It is said to be one of the fastest growing areas of mass communications research.
Bespoke evaluation programmes deliver a tailored solution for evaluating the impact of your corporate communication and PR campaigns. It is a media audit which has authority, credibility and independence enabling you to prove your team's worth to the wider audience, to stakeholders and in the boardroom.
As the proliferation of media vehicles grows, evaluation programmes must cover a wider audience and wider range of media. Monitoring agencies worldwide need to track Press, Broadcast and Web coverage, ensuring that evaluation reports, global and domestic, are in-tune with the blurring lines between different forms of media.
Faced with the challenge of a global, 24-hour media environment and the necessity to prove the value of PR in the boardroom, there's never been a greater need for a credible, independent evaluation provider. With global and local capabilities, there are many companies able to deliver tailored media evaluation programmes to major corporations, the government, NGOs and PR consultancies.
The end result of media evaluation is a rating by which organisations can measure their media exposure, often comparing their results with their contemporaries and competitors. Media evaluation uses a series of metrics, or methods of measurement. These include audience impact, opportunities-to-see and can feature equivalent advertising value. This last method of measurement is sometimes criticised as it equates PR value to advertising. See also Content_analysis and Public relations measurement. Other frequently featured metrics include the measurement of tone or favourability and key messages.
Traditionally media evaluation has involved the analysis of relevant material from press and broadcast sources. In recent years and with the increasing trend for media to move online, so this discipline has developed and adapted to encapsulate the idiosyncracies of social media measurement. A number of new initiatives are progressing the transfer of knowlege for the measurement of social media including Measurement Camp[1].
AMEC, 'The International Association of Measurement and Evaluation of Communication' is the industry appointed trade body for companies and individuals involved in research, measurement and evaluation in editorial media coverage and related communications issues. To be a full member of AMEC, companies must be able to a) offer comprehensive media evaluation, research and interpretation services, b) been in business for at least two years and c) have media evaluation turnover in excess of £150,000 when applying. In addition all companies abide by a strict code of ethics and must implement tight quality control procedures. These conditions ensure that the media avaluation services offered are all to the very highest standard. Further detailed information on the industry is available from AMEC's website[2]. Another organisation is the Commission on Public Relations Measurement & Evaluation [3] which was formed under the auspices of the Institute for Public Relations in 1998. The Commission exists to establish standards and methods for public relations research and measurement, and to issue authoritative best-practices white papers.
[edit] References
Review of Jim Macnamara's seminal work on PR outputs, out-takes and outcomes [4]
[edit] External links
Media evaluation providers include: Echo Research [5] Media Evaluation Research [6] Mediatrack Research [7] Metrica [8] Millward Brown Precis [9] Panarc [10]. TNS Media Intelligence [11]
