A Brief History
Press clipping service in the United States can be traced back to the late 1800?s in New York City. With the growing number of newspapers, it was difficult for anyone to keep up with all the news about their company. So the idea was born. Get subscriptions to as many newspapers as you can, read them for news that pertained to your clients and send them the newspaper clippings.
The industry, while always a specialized business, was even featured in a popular novel, ?A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.? In that book, one of the main characters talks about the challenges of her job in a New York City press clipping service.
As American business grew and newspapers flourished in the 1900?s, so did the need for press clipping services. Clients? focus became more national in scope, and so more newspapers had to be monitored. In the 1940?s magazine coverage was added and 30 years later, press clipping services began monitoring television news stations upon our client’s request.
Press clipping services have evolved into media monitoring services which monitor and analyze every type of media: daily newspapers, non-daily newspapers, magazines, trade journals, television and radio news as well as the internet.
Today there are media monitoring companies which provide broad national service and many who specialize in regional or state coverage. And media monitoring companies have responded to the growth of on-line newspapers by offering coverage of the internet.
