Assignment 5: Media Analysis Memo (18 points)

In this assignment, you are asked to conduct a scan of relevant media, analyze the media coverage, and provide a summary of this analysis in order to assess how it may impact a client’s campaign.

For this assignment, choose a “fictional” client that interests you. For the purposes of this project, I encourage you to choose a major company or organization that is playing a noticeable role in contemporary politics, society or industry. You are welcome to choose a company or organization of significance in the U.S. or in a country/region of your choice, as long as you are able to translate media sources to English for the purpose of your submission).

Then, identify a real or fictional business goal and messaging objective for your company/organization. You might look to the organization’s website or recent press releases for an idea. With your company/organization’s goal and objective in mind, conduct a media analysis.

(Note: if you choose the client that you’d like to use for the final project, you may re-use the information from this assignment in your final presentation, however, you may find that for that for the purposes of this assignment, choosing a large and prominent company/organization with prevalent media coverage will make for a better assignment experience - this is because it will be easier to apply a concrete methodology, and to use easily accessibly news resources for the assignment.)

Directions

1. Identify the company or organization's business goal and messaging objective.

2. Set the parameters of the media scan (e.g., time frame, universe of coverage, search terms) based on the goal and objective (for example, if you are interested in exploring how Peloton is responding to its stock losses following its new stock low in Summer '23, your media scan would not likely include articles from its stock high in 2020).

3. Identify your search source, and types of news sources (be sure you have reviewed the course lecture for further details) and track your process carefully.

4. Conduct your full search and then select your articles for analysis assuring you have at least 20 news articles to analyze.  You should select articles using a random, quantitative, process - e.g., every 5th article - or a qualitative method - e.g., most informative, or largest impressions. Be sure to capture and report on the method used to select articles for analysis as part of your final memo. Be prepared to define terms such as "most informative" if you choose to use a qualitative approach, and to defend that approach in the methodology section of your memo.

5. Analyze each article, taking notes, at a minimum, on the following characteristics:

· Type of article and source

· Overall focus, from a messaging and content perspective, of each

· Overall tone (e.g., positive, negative, or neutral) of each article as it relates to your client. 

· Potential influencers (these are defined as reporters or potential spokespeople who you believe are influential for your client and why).

· Key notes (such as any key themes or take-aways that may guide your final memo)

Your analysis should be presented in the form. of a 3-5 page business memo plus an appendix, listing of each news item & your notes (e.g., citation focus/message, tone, influencers, etc.) - similar to the chart shown in the course lecture.

The memo should provide:

· The business goal/objective

· Your methodology

· A summary of findings

· Implications for your clients - you might addres concrete issues such as:

1. Are there particular campaign messages or areas of focus that the current media coverage does not address but should?

2. Are there inaccuracies in the way that the media is presenting your client’s story?

3. Do you see messaging opportunities for your client?

4. Who are the key influencers with regard to your given topic and in what ways, from a messaging perspective, would you propose using them on behalf of your client?

The memo should adhere to the following guidelines:

The business memo should be directed to the client.

· The document can be no more than 5 pages (not counting the appendix table/listing of articles with notes). 

· Number the pages in the document.

· The document margins should be 1-inch.

· Be sure to write concisely and to cite correctly.

Your media analysis memo will be evaluated on the following criteria:

Analysis: 8 points

The memo provides full analysis and analysis results in actionable implications for the client. The interpretation of the findings, including the selection of key examples, shows a strong sense of reasoning and paints a compelling picture that justifies the implications effectively and is clearly tied to the stated messaging objective.

Memo components: 5 points

The memo includes all necessary components including a succinct introduction of the client and their messaging objective. The objective is written clearly and shows understanding of what constitutes an effective objective. Findings are followed by clear conclusions and a table of findings is included.

Writing: 5 points

The memo is free from grammatical/writing errors, is clearly written and meets expectations for page-limits and business memo format.

*Note: you will need to decide which news search site to user for your analysis. Google news may be a good start - but the correct choice will be yours to make depending on your choice of client. Consider using Nexis or another database available through JHU if it is a better choice for your client.