As public relations professionals, a lot of what we do involves managing an organization’s reputation.

For the most part, the more media attention your organization receives, the more your stakeholders will recognize you.

But visibility isn’t enough. It’s the content of news stories that determines whether your audiences will have a favorable impression of you.

So how do you know whether the content was good or bad? And what do you DO with that information?

We conduct in-depth analyses of our clients’ media coverage, including the positive, neutral or negative tone of the stories, on a regular basis.

This helps us not only measure the success of our public relations initiatives, but also provide well-informed advice for real-time decisions the organization can make.

Both the quantity and quality of media coverage for an organization are directly correlated to how much the public trusts, likes and supports you – and can even determine the characteristics that are associated with your organization as opinions are formed.

A large amount of media clips doesn’t mean a positive reputation. You should always ask if your messages are getting across.

If you’re going to go back and evaluate the existing news coverage about your organization, also pay attention which reporters lead the conversations in your industry – and then strengthen your relationship with these individuals.

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