This assignment provided by Professor Debra Johnson at Cal State University Chico shows students how to use Meltwater to track their competitors.

1. Debra Johnson
Email: dejohnson@csuchico.edu
Twitter: DebraJChico
Homework: News Media Dashboard
This assignment links to Barcelona Principles 2 (measure outcomes) & 4 (conduct both qualitative and
quantitative analysis).
Supporting Article:
How to Choose Your PR Dashboard from PR News
Your Task
Using Meltwater,you will create a custom dashboard to analyze your company’s news media coverage against those of
your top three competitors. Then, you will generate an analysis report based on the data you find.
Some key decisions you need to make:
 Who are your top three competitors?
o Decide: do you want to build your dashboard around the company names or the top company product?
 What time frame is best for your dashboard?
o Monthly, quarterly, the year thus far?
o Key announcements?
 What data points (widgets) are most important to include in your dashboard?
Set up Meltwater for Data Retrieval
 Create separate saved searchesfor each company or product.
 Make sure each search is using the correct time frame.
 Create a Benchmark Dashboard.
o Meltwater’s default widgets are: Share of Voice, Media Exposure, Sentiment.
o You’ll need to decide the 6 most important data points to include in your dashboard.
 Note: feel free to create other dashboards as well; such as Monitor or Analyze.
Generate a Dashboard Analysis Report
 Export your dashboard from Meltwater.
 Write an analysis report including the following:
o Introduction: set the context for your dashboard report by identifying and explaining the key decisions
you made. Be certain to provide quantitative data to justify the selection of your competitors. Further,
include this key overview information for each company:
 Total number of news media hits secured during the time frame you specified.
 One “best hit” including the logo of the news organization and a direct quote from the article
highlighting the best content. Example:

2. Debra Johnson
Email: dejohnson@csuchico.edu
Twitter: DebraJChico
o Data Analysis: Export the information graphics from Meltwater to include in your report. Then, explain
what you believe the Meltwater data tells you about the news media coverage these companies have
received.
 For example, one logical question is which company is doing the best overall in news media
coverage and how do you know this?
 But, you’ll also want to explain the results of each data point (widget) you selected and provide
key insight for why the data ended up as it did. This means you’ll have to dive into some of the
specific news media coverage the data is built upon.
o Provide Recommendations:
 Provide a minimum of three specific recommendations for improving the news media coverage
performance for your company.
 Note: you’re welcome to form these recommendations based on all saved Meltwater searches and
all dashboards you’ve created.
Grading Insight: 50 points
You will be evaluated in the following areas:
 5 points: Introduction clarity.
 20 points: Completeness of the data analysis.
 15 points: Recommendations to improve media relations. Clarity, logic, strategic thinking and supporting
evidence.
 10 points: Mechanics & Layout:
o Spelling, grammar, punctuation, AP Style, etc.
o The overall look and feelof the document: does it have a layout that is easy to move through and visually
pleasing.