I imagine that “crisis communication” is a scary phrase to many business owners.

Most think that they’ll never need this type of plan, and many would rather not think about the potential drama. But what’s the harm in having it at the ready—just in case?

In the age of the 24-hour news cycle and the omnipresent internet, you need a plan, you need a statement, you need a singular message, and you need a spokesperson. You can’t afford to be caught off guard and left scrambling to pick up the pieces once the uncontrolled story is making the rounds.

Of course some people will never need to put this plan into action, and not every predicament your business faces will match the magnitude of the Komen/Planned Parenthood catastrophe, the BP Gulf Coast oil spill response disaster, or even celebrity chef Paula Deen’s ill-timed, simultaneous announcement of her years-long, Type-2 diabetes diagnosis and her partnership with diabetes drug maker Novo Nordisk.

But let’s just say something happens, someday, where you find yourself in need of serious crisis communication. Why not be ready with a plan? And, while we’re at it, why not entertain the idea of that plan including a genuine apology? Not the, “I’m sorry that you got mad,” apology or the, “We’re sorry you took our actions out of context,” apology. A real one.

People—and legal departments—are worried that if they say they’re sorry, they’re admitting guilt—that they will appear weakened and in a corner when they need to be strong and resolute. But why?

When you fight with your mother, friend, husband, or daughter, what repairs that argument? An apology. Someone who was in the wrong pushing aside the nascent pride-response and, firstly, saying, “I’m sorry.” Why do we accept something different from our businesses and organizations that have angered and alienated their customers?

With all due respect to “Love Story,” business relationships mean sometimes having to say you’re sorry. An apology won’t fix the problem, and it’s certainly not all you’ll need to repair the damage done, but I am sure that it could go a long way in the minds—and wallets—of your customers.

In the latest installment of our 10^th anniversary blog series, a Dodge Communications client is interviewed to discuss his experience with Dodge over the years. To view earlier installments please click here.

Marty McKenna leads marketing and commercial operations at dbMotion and joined the company three years ago. dbMotion has been a Dodge client for six years.

Dodge: How has Dodge helped with your communications needs since you started working with them?

McKenna: There are a couple of angles to that. The obvious one of course is that you guys are connected. We’re relatively small, and your connections have helped us place articles and things we wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. That might be the easiest thing—helping us get speaking spots at events like World Health Congress and HIMSS, and article placements for the UPMC folks. I think that all works, and along the way, you guys have had a professionalism that is important. You’ve made us look like we know what we we’re doing when we probably didn’t. That’s really helpful.

One of the things I remember from when I first joined was I saw an article that Elizabeth [Glaser] had written, and I thought it was one of my team members who is close to the industry who wrote it. I responded really quickly about how amazed I was at how deep it was it terms of understanding the domain, and everything was well-written and well-connected to what was happening in the industry. I responded to my team member, and she said that it was something we got from Dodge. This gave me a little more insight into what the group there brings to the table. I think the understanding and focus that we’ve seen from everyone at Dodge is really important to me. We need to come across like we know what we’re talking about and that we’ve been in the industry. Everything Dodge has ever written has come across that way.

Dodge: What are some of the major accomplishments you’ve been able to achieve through your partnership with Dodge, and how have these accomplishments impacted your overall business?

McKenna: Probably the biggest one has been that we had two or three presentations at HIMSS last year, and basically from soup to nuts, Elizabeth and the team took it over and took on the challenge. They worked with our clients, such as UMass, and were able to prepare them for the presentation. I think almost everything she [Glaser] has presented to HIMSS has been accepted, that’s probably not quite true, but it’s a very, very high hit rate. From a business impact of course what happens is that we’ll be exhibiting at a tradeshow, or even World Health Conference where Bill Fera was speaking, and we don’t have much activity. As soon as one of our clients speaks, then we’re able to chat with some people, develop leads and opportunities and get the chance to position our product the right way. In that way, it’s been integral to our strategy of really trying to get out in front and get our clients out in front, which is our overall business strategy.

Dodge: Where is the field of healthcare communication headed, and why do you think Dodge is positioned to succeed?

McKenna: I think it all comes down to domain, so I think the advantage of Dodge is that we look at Elizabeth as a business partner for us. One of the projects we’re taking on right now is revamping our website. I can be confident that someone like Elizabeth along with my team will be able to help those folks make sure they don’t go down an alley we don’t want to go down or take us down a place that isn’t right for positioning. It’s a tricky place, so you want to be sophisticated and interesting. Somewhere right on that fine line is where you want to be, and I think Elizabeth does a nice job of walking that line.

In terms of where communications are heading, it’s changing very rapidly; there’s all sorts of things we’re questioning. We’re questioning a lot of the publications, frankly, and how much value we get from them and trying to figure out how to spend our money appropriately. As a relatively small company, we don’t have endless budget, and we don’t have the ability to do everything so we have to be very selective. In that way, it helps to have someone that when we select something, we knock the cover off the ball because we need to do something well when we do it. The people that we work with there [at Dodge] are our trusted advisers that can help us do that.

Dodge: That’s all of the questions that we have for you. Is there anything else you might like to add or a memory of Dodge you’d like to share?

McKenna: I think for us, it really does come down to that business partnership. We don’t work with any companies, whether it’s marketing or professional services or otherwise, that can’t sit at the table with us and help us explore. It’s never a “here’s the textbook way to do it,” it’s actually a dialog, and that’s what we enjoy about Dodge.

I think the other piece, possibly, is the global understanding. The people working with us have done a nice job bridging the gap originally because we’ve gone through a lot of changes. Dodge has been able to roll with those changes. They’ve been significant even in terms of our market positioning.

In the latest installment of our 10th anniversary blog series, a respected member of the healthcare media discusses his experience with Dodge over the years. To view earlier installments please click here.

Jack Beaudoin is the CEO of MedTech Media. He helped found the company in 2003 and was an editor of Healthcare IT News for many years before he became the editorial director for Healthcare IT News, Healthcare Finance News and all of the other websites and microsites MedTech Media produces. The transcript to his interview is below.

Dodge: How has the healthcare publishing industry evolved over the past decade in terms of developing new content?

Beaudoin: We differentiate ourselves from other publications in the healthcare industry because of our clear focus on news. I think the changes—or evolution—in “news” that we have seen has not been the content of news but the forms that it takes. As we’ve pushed online—web, tablets or smart phones—we’re experimenting with new forms; we’re not just writing the traditional article anymore. We’re using web tools like Storify or Cover It Live or slide shows. What’s really been exciting, I think, for healthcare journalists is that the range of telling stories has changed dramatically over the last decade.

Dodge: In your opinion, how can agencies best serve the needs of your editorial staff and readers?

Beaudoin: In my opinion—let me preface it with that—I’ve always said that agencies can serve editors by being the first gatekeeper to valuable information. An agency can send whatever they want to our editors, and we’ll look at it. But today, the amount of press releases or pitches vastly outnumbers our ability to report on these things. If an agency really wants to serve its customers, I think it serves editors and readers by pitching the types of stories that will have journalistic substance to them. They can announce new customers all day long, and they can announce changes in personnel; however, I think an agency should be able to say, “Hey this is part of a trend,” to place it in context, or say to an editor, “Not only are we suggesting you take a look at this institution, but look at what other institutions are doing like this.” I think that provides an invaluable service to editors who in-turn are trying to make sure that the information they deliver to readers is unique, important and newsworthy.

Dodge: How do you anticipate that the agency-publishing relationship may change in the next decade?

Beaudoin: Brad and I have talked about this before on a couple of occasions. Obviously I think there’s an increasing gray area or blur between what agencies and publishers are doing. From the agency perspective, the client is whomever you’re working for, and from the newspapers’ perspective—the newsgathering operation—we’re trying to serve our readers. We all need to be transparent about who the client is. With that in mind, I think it becomes “co-opertition”—cooperation and competition combined. I really see that happening.

I know for instance that Dodge offers its clients microsites just like we do as publishers. I think we can share information resources when appropriate. I say “when appropriate” because obviously, the information we deliver always keeps our readers in mind and their best interests, whereas an agency has to keep its clients’ best interests in mind.

Dodge: What have you enjoyed about working with the Dodge team over the years?

Beaudoin: I would say that I’ve enjoyed working with Brad Dodge or Brian Parrish because we talk. Their knowledge and experience is a resource I’ve drawn upon in the past. Instead of just leaving a great idea in our laps, we talk about it. I’ve met with Brad a couple of times over the years to talk about ways that the industry is changing and what that means for our news gathering operation and what it means for your agency. It’s that brainstorming work together that I find important when I think of Dodge.

The other thing of course, is in general, Brad and the team know what journalists need and what they don’t need. I think to protect the integrity of his operation, and thus protect the integrity of his clients, the whole Dodge team really screens what they bring to journalists. That’s invaluable, too, because like I said, we’re swamped with information. Our task becomes separating the wheat from the chaff.  The more that we can look at just wheat and the less we have to look at chaff, the better.

Dodge: Is there anything else you might like to add, or do you have a memory of working with Dodge you might want to share?

Beaudoin: I have lots of memories because we always see the team at HIMSS and other major industry events, and that’s always a nice time to catch up. I guess I would say that the ongoing professionalism from Dodge has always made it a great team to work with.

I was particularly interested in the question about how healthcare publishing has evolved over the past ten years. I think that’s where it gets really interesting for you folks, as well. I mentioned Storify and Cover It Live—but our team is also using LinkedIn for discussions, and we use Twitter, etc. I know that you guys are active in the social media front too. The sources, the distribution models and the communications around breaking news are all changing and it is important that we all stay abreast of emerging technologies.

In the latest installment of our 10^th anniversary blog series, a Dodge Communications client is interviewed to discuss his experience with Dodge over the years. To view earlier installments please click here.

Tim Kelly is vice president of Dialog Medical, a division of Standard Register Healthcare. Dialog Medical has been a Dodge Communications client for more than seven years. Click on the picture below to listen to the interview or view the transcript below.

Dodge: In those seven years, how has Dodge Communications helped with your integrated communications needs?

Kelly: Dodge has been amazing over the course of seven years. Dialog Medical started with a truly missionary product—something that was unknown to the market. We were automating a non-standard process and introducing a new approach to a traditional workflow. Dodge has been invaluable to our efforts to educate the market on our solution, and even more to the point, to help the market understand there is a need for the solution we offer.

Dodge: What are some of the major accomplishments you’ve been able to achieve with Dodge, and how have these accomplishments impacted your overall business?

Kelly: The great thing about Dodge is their ability to secure media placements. The last media report you folks generated listing the number of placements you’ve achieved over the past seven years was over 25 pages long. That’s not 25 individual placements, that’s 25 pages full of great journal placements. Probably one of the best was a Wall Street Journal piece, and as a matter of fact, Dodge won a Communicator Award for that particular placement. It has probably been our most-used piece in the last several years. That Wall Street Journal article has been employed by our sales force; it’s prominent on our website; and it’s really validated what we do. One of the amazing things about that piece is that it contained two pictures of our product in-use and three full screen shots —a placement that is just absolutely outstanding.

We are now in a stage where we are beginning to see the impact Dodge has had on our clients now that we’re doing interviews with those same clients who were at one point influenced by our media placements. Just by way of example, one client is a large healthcare system in the Chicago-area—an eight hospital system. When interviewed for and article, we asked them why they selected a Dialog Medical product, and we found out they did their research on the market, and they looked at the evidence—evidence that was mostly developed by Dodge Communications that ultimately influenced their decision to purchase our application. We also uncovered the same thing in an interview we just completed with a client in the Boston area. It’s exciting that Dodge has now come full circle, and we’re interviewing people who based their purchasing decision on evidence that Dodge had prepared in years past for us.

Dodge: Where do you think integrated communications is headed, and why do you think Dodge is positioned to succeed?

Kelly: I think Dodge is just doing an amazing job in the area of integrated communications. You folks, to your credit, are dragging me kicking and screaming to the area of Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and all of that. You can tell from the gray hair that I’m a little older, even though I have teenagers who try to educate me in the area of social media. Dodge is helping keep me stay current with my own kids.  Traditionalists like myself would love to stay in the print area, but Dodge has done a great job of expanding the scope of our marketing communication efforts. I use Dodge extensively for PR, for some marketing (we’ve done a few brochures), and a lot for web development. They’re helping with placements now, not only with web communications, but we’re also finding ourselves commenting on the postings of others in an effort to better communicate our message. Dodge has done a wonderful job on the social media side of things through picking up on trends, pointing us where we should go to comment on themes to better position ourselves as experts on a particular area. Their assistance with our website has been focused on search engine optimization and search engine marketing, and that’s been a huge help for us as well.

Dodge: That’s all the questions we have for you, is there anything else you might like to add, or do you have any fun memories of Dodge you’d like to share?

Kelly: I’ve worked with a number of PR firms over the years, and Dodge is just absolutely outstanding. We’ve been a Dodge client for seven years, and I don’t think in any previous existence did I ever spend seven straight years with any one PR firm or any one ad agency. Dodge just continues to add value; they continue to make us exceptional in the marketplace. One of the fun things personally, is you folks drive me; you folks make me a more effective marketing person by staying behind me and pushing me to constantly promote our solution. Your attentiveness to deadlines, your knowledge of the market, and your continual presenting to me of new promotional and communications opportunities that has helped make our company successful. Dialog Medical is now a division of Standard Register Healthcare and that has a lot to do with Dodge Communications.

My heart goes out to all those who suffered losses of any kind resulting from effects of hurricane Irene and the subsequent tropical storm. And I certainly don’t envy the jobs of the crisis spokespersons–governors and mayors, police and fire personnel, disaster response organizations and others.

Spokespersons have a very important responsibility updating citizens and media outlets, conveying difficult facts while being sympathetic and empathetic to the plight of everyone affected. And while “it ain’t that bad” and “sure coulda been a whole lot worse” may seem like appropriate, hopeful observations, tremendous care must be taken in how, when and to whom pep talks are delivered.

Take Connecticut’s governor Dan Malloy, for example.

On Wednesday, in comments I read in a Wall Street Journal article, Malloy said, “Let’s put this in perspective. Only two people died. It’s miraculous if you think about it.”

He was addressing hundreds of thousands of people who had been and were being impacted by the surprising wrath of the storm. People were angry that the response to power outages wasn’t faster and more organized. People were devastatingly sad that their homes were damaged or even completely destroyed. But most importantly, there were families and communities that were mourning the loss of loved ones whose lives were taken by the storm’s furor. “It ain’t that bad”, “coulda been worse” and “It’s a miracle there ain’t more dead” are all very insensitive remarks that–in my opinion–crossed the line from constructive to destructive.

“Aw, he was jes’ tryin to help” you say? Had he considered the impact of such insensitive remarks by thinking of the specific audiences he was addressing, it wouldn’t have taken much thought to realize it.

It all comes around to the need to empathize with your audience’s pain points, whether you’re a crisis spokesperson serving the public, a director of PR for a public company, or a sales manager for a small tech startup.

Be strategic with your messages. Think about what to say, and what NOT to say. Like my dad always said, “Why do you think you were given two ears but only one mouth?”

I’ve been watching the coverage of the interviews with former Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell this week with great curiosity and amazement. The buzz started when she walked out of the interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan when—apparently—she’d had enough of his questions that weren’t what she wanted to talk about. After that, Morgan talked with Anderson Cooper, and both agreed that the interview questions were fair game because they addressed topics discussed in the book and in other public forums. I thought that might be the end of the discussion. Then, to my surprise, she appeared on the Today Show to explain why she walked off the set at CNN. “We were late for another interview” was the main point she tried to put forth. Let’s have a show of hands who believes that excuse. No one? C’mon, she and her advisors must have thought SOMEone would believe that. I mean, forget the fact that she spent the first 8 minutes of the interview criticizing Morgan’s approach as creepy, and alleging he used such tactics because he was desperate for ratings. “I was late” was the main point.

I believe that these interviews illustrate why any person, company or other organization needs to have a clear messaging strategy and platform before venturing out onto the world’s stage. Any communications strategist could have predicted what Morgan’s line of questioning would have been, and she admitted on the Today Show that she didn’t even want to do the CNN interview because of Morgan’s style. (She also admitted she didn’t want to do the “I am not a witch” ad but the experts convinced her that it was a good idea. And she lamented that it’s a sexist thing, observing that no one continues to ask President Clinton about his Lewinksy escapades.)

Could you sit through an interview with Piers Morgan? Can you think what he’d ask? Are you prepared with solid messaging that clearly and forcefully articulates your position and advances your message? Do you know how to segue from a question about one topic to an answer about another?

Watching the political process is one of the most fascinating forms of messaging. How many times has President Obama said “millionaires and billionaires?” Do you think he and his minions are speaking off the cuff? Or are they using carefully crafted messaging points that are designed to resonate with the voting public. It’s an integrated communication strategy with a solid messaging platform. It doesn’t matter whether you agree or disagree. Top tier politicians are heavily coached on communications strategy.

Every healthcare, technology and life sciences company needs to be prepared with an integrated communication strategy and a solid messaging platform. It’s the vital foundation you need to promote and build your brand in a tough environment.

Sure, most healthcare companies will never sit down with a tough interviewer looking to exploit scandal. Most healthcare media are hard working folks trying to do a good job and deliver compelling news to their readers, visitors and followers. But if your messages aren’t clear in your interviews, on your blog and on your web content, you run the risk of missing opportunities to advance your message and build your company. You lose the momentum that could be seized by your competitors.

The scariest thing of all is that O’Donnell has worked as a PR and marketing consultant in the past. Unbelievable.

Dodge Communications will celebrate its 10th anniversary on Oct. 11, 2011. To help celebrate the anniversary and share our successes, we’ve interviewed some employees, clients and respected members of the media to discuss their experiences with Dodge over the years. Each Tuesday, for ten weeks, we’ll post one of the interviews for you to listen to or watch. We’re looking forward to sharing our celebration of 10 years of service with you!

Our first interview is with Mark Hagland. Mark is editor-in-chief at Healthcare Informatics.  He says that working with Dodge has been delightful because Dodge Communications is one agency that “gets it.” Click on the picture below to listen to the interview or view the transcript below.

Mark Hagland has served as editor-in-chief at Healthcare Informatics since January 2010. Prior to this, he was a contributing editor at the publication for 12 years.

Dodge: How has the healthcare IT publishing industry evolved over the past decade in terms of developing new content?

Hagland: Well, I think it has evolved in a number of different ways on a number of different levels. On a really basic level there are more publications now, and they are producing more content. There is just more volume-wise. I believe that the industry has matured and that the level of coverage is deeper and broader than it used to be. There are so many complex topics, and the fact that there are a number of competitor publications that I think will inevitably lead to improvements in quality of coverage.  I would say both the quantity and quality of coverage have grown in the last several years.

Dodge: In your opinion, how can agencies best serve the current needs of your editorial staff and readers?

Hagland: The simple answer is: know us. We reach a very specific audience, and we have a very specific editorial concept and mission.  Our core audience at Healthcare Informatics is CIOs—chief information officers—of hospitals, health systems and medical groups along with, I would also say now becoming co-equal, are CMIOs—chief medical informatics officers—and all the people who report to and work with those titles. This includes clinician leaders such as CMOs, CNOs—chief medical and nursing officers—certainly all members of the c-suite, and of course all the members of the IT team in a patient care organization. It’s about understanding what they would like to read about and of course what we’re trying to provide. We’re very, very focused on individuals with those titles talking to each other and also learning from experts such as government experts, policy experts, industry experts and so on, in terms of finding out what’s going on and learning their perspective. It’s very much a peer-to-peer magazine. If those in PR and media relations can understand that, that’s very important. We’re very focused away from vendor prospective and toward provider and industry expert perspective.

Dodge: How do you anticipate that the agency-publishing relationship may change in the next decade?

Hagland: I think there will be some continuity, but I also think there will be some changes. One of the things happening, as you know, is that the publishing world is changing. Our magazine is changing and evolving forward in self-concept.  Like many publications until recently, we saw ourselves as a print magazine that happened to have a website. We’re really rapidly evolving away from that and toward thinking of ourselves as a multi-platform publication with multi-platforms—several platforms—and that includes the website and print magazine.

I think one of the ways in which the interaction might change is the understanding that there are many opportunities for coverage and interaction with our publication, and many of them are going to be online. I think that will change, and I also think given that there are so many important policy-related things to change right now, that’s changing too. Because of the HITECH Act and healthcare reform—federal legislative healthcare reform—policy has become a very important component of what we’re doing. The other thing that’s happening content-wise  is that more and more is focused on clinical informatics, not that the other types informatics don’t matter anymore, but the emphasis right now is on implementation of core and advanced clinical information systems that will lead to clinical transformation and move the healthcare system forward. Understanding those changes in transit development will be very important for PR and media relations and others who work with us.

Dodge: What have you enjoyed about working with the Dodge team over the years?

Hagland: It’s been delightful working with the people at Dodge. As I’ve told your senior executives, working with Dodge Communications is one agency that really gets it. I love the fact that when representatives of Dodge pitch me or my team on story ideas, they know what they’re talking about. They’ve researched the subject; they understand what our needs are; they understand who our audience is; they understand what our production and processing needs are in terms of time frame and deadlines; they understand the industry. It’s a pleasure for me to get a good pitch that helps me from a PR or media relations person. It’s of course less than a pleasure when I get a pitch from someone who doesn’t seem to understand what our publication is, but I’ve never had an experience with anyone from Dodge not understanding what our publication is or what our needs are. So, it’s delightful to interact with Dodge people.

Dodge: That’s all the questions we have. Is there anything else you like to share or add? Do you have a good memory of working with Dodge?

Hagland: I’ll just add one thing. Brad Dodge and I did a webinar together several months ago that I thought was wonderful and mutually beneficial. We’re always looking for opportunities to interact with stakeholders, and certainly PR agencies are stakeholders in our world that bring mutual benefit. I look forward to similar and other opportunities in the future. I wish Dodge Communications and everyone at Dodge great congratulations on your anniversary, and I hope things are wonderful and prosperous for you going forward.

Authority: A couple weeks ago, we discussed Compete and the importance of vetting a Web site or blog before spending time on a pitch. Another valuable tool for this, available through the blog search database Technorati, is a site’s authority. Authority measures a site’s influence in the blogosphere within a similar content category based on characteristics such as linking behavior and how well a blog’s content matches the category with which it is associated. Authority is measured from 1-1000, and each blog’s Technorati ranking is based upon its authority. The health category lists 1,362 blogs, and RHRealityCheck.org has the highest authority of all healthcare blogs at 950.

Past Words of the Week
TweetBeep, Compete, Astroturfing, WEGO Health, BackTweets, PDR.net, socialmention, Twazzup, Health Exchange, Health Tweeder, DIDGET, Thoora, Google Buzz, bit.ly, E-patient, Alltop, mHealth, Augmented reality, OpenID, ROI, #hcsm, Medpedia, Almost.at, Hashtag, FollowFriday, Beta, Microblogging, Sidewiki, Meta tags

In public relations, press releases aren’t really the Holy Grail, but they are certainly a meat and potatoes staple of the profession. That being said, many have speculated if this form of PR is moving toward extinction, especially as social media continues to gain momentum. A recent opinion piece from Bulldog Reporter highlights this exact issue and evaluates the press release’s vital signs. Currently, there is no true replacement for press releases, but surely there’s room for improvement.

So, what can you do to ensure your press release stands out from the rest of the healthcare IT vendors while keeping up with the changing times?

Minimize the marketing hype
For starters, and yes we are all guilty of it at one point or another, make your press release as straightforward and fact-based as possible by including the information that editors want.

• Try to minimize marketing language.
• Hone in on the news you are presenting and what it’s all about.
• Make sure the editors and – just as important – your target audiences understand what you’re highlighting.

Supplement with social media and other tools
While you may pay for wire distribution of press releases, social media sites like Twitter provide a free medium for disseminating your company’s recent news. By posting a compelling, brief overview of the content, you may gain the attention of individuals in your target audience and, depending on who’s watching, a news editor.

SEO-friendly content is another cost-free way to optimize visibility. You could even improve your ranking in Google and Yahoo searches. Think, key words that your prospects would type into a search engine when looking for a new solution in your sector.

Get it to the right person
While wire services are an easy way to send out a press release to numerous people, they don’t necessarily mean it is ending up in the correct person’s inbox. Make certain you are being as targeted as possible in your distribution. For example, national distribution may not always be the way to go.

Additionally, follow or befriend editors on social media sites like LinkedIn or Twitter as well as monitor each publication’s blog. This will keep you informed of what they’re covering and what might pique their interest. After you’ve done your homework, don’t be afraid to reach out and share your news if it’s a good fit.

Though this may seem like PR 101, going back to the basics with a few new bells and whistles will help you stay ahead of the competition and garner the attention your news deserves.

With an ever increasing quantity of healthcare blogs, Web sites and other digital venues, do you ever wonder if this media growth translates to more news or just better distribution of stories already generated by the mainstream press? Or if commenting on an article actually triggers more coverage on a topic?

If so, you’re not alone. A recent New York Times article explains how the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard pondered the same questions before launching Media Cloud, a quantitative approach to tracking news coverage so users can determine what topics are or aren’t being covered, who’s driving the agenda, what keeps a story in the news and much more.

While the site is still under development, Media Cloud offers a preview of where media coverage tracking and analysis is headed in the future. Unlike a clipping service which can only tell you where a company or product name gets mentioned, Media Cloud’s data-driven approach is a significant step toward understanding how company-related news is being generated within the context of other news and overarching industry trends.

Having access to this type of information enables PR professionals to more effectively secure the desired level of media coverage for their clients because they know not only what makes news, but also how stories are evolving in today’s constantly changing media landscape, from who’s shaping the dialogue to what the competition has to say about it. As Media Cloud continues to expand its offering, it will be interesting to see how this tool might revolutionize the way that companies track, measure and analyze the impact of their media coverage so they can better shape their message to the market.