We are doing some PR on a DIY basis and would like to know if any of our articles get picked up. We try and get hold of all the publications to where we issue our news, but somehow we feel that we may be missing something! Is there anyway we can monitor this?

A ‘cuttings service’ will monitor an agreed set of phrases or company names for you. This can help to ensure your good news is being maximised.

Traditionally a cuttings service will cost £200 per month plus a ‘per clip charge which varies around £5 for each magazine article and £2 for each newspaper cutting and the best known names in the business are Durrant and Romeike.

Newer lower cost alternatives to the traditional service have started to appear. They offer an internet based rather than paper based service. These services offer a monthly fee only and can be switched on an off as needed. They offer free trials for one or two weeks.

Newsnow
http://www.newsnow.co.uk/services/presscuttings/

They monitor the national papers and the UK service costs £150 per month. There are no, ‘per clip’ or other charges. They will provide email alerts and an archive service Up to 25 key words / phrases in basic service.
Telephone: 020 7471 0400

CyberAlert media monitoring service.
http://www.blogger.com/www.cyberalert.co.uk
The service provides you with an 0700 daily email of relevant citations from UK (and if you choose wider) media.

The UK service costs £130 per month. There are no, ‘per clip’ or other charges.
Contact: David Phillips
Internet Reputation Services Ltd
13 Butts Road, Chiseldon, Swindon SN4 0NN
Telephone: 01793 740083

Warning
It is still possible that cuttings will be missed! If you know something is appearing in a local paper, subscribe to it and monitor it internally.