FEMA wants to monitor news coverage of its activities nationwide, 24/7

News coverage of FEMA activities

FEMA is planning to award a 100% small business set-aside contract to a media monitoring firm that can monitor, archive and measure all local news in “major Nielsen markets,” all nationally broadcast news and all cable outlets for their news coverage of FEMA activities in the field across the U.S.

“To monitor the effectiveness of public affairs messaging, and respond to critical events, FEMA requires the ability to monitor and retrieve clips and transcripts from network and local television affiliates in a rapid manner upon demand 24/7 through an on-line distribution service,” explains the agency in a solicitation it posted online on Feb. 15.

The monitoring service will be expected to provide “media statistics including the audience exposure and publicity value” for that news coverage, said FEMA’s statement of work. It did not explain what it meant by “publicity value,” not did it indicate whether the selected monitoring firm would be expected to provide a subjective evaluation of the positive or negative nature of individual news reports.

FEMA’s office of external affairs is currently responsible for monitoring news coverage for its Joint Field Offices (JFOs) and its headquarters broadcast operations.

“The contractor shall provide at least 11 accessible accounts or individual passwords to access the service (with a potential surge capacity of 40 if needed during extremely high disaster activity),”explains the statement of work. In addition, the service will be expected to allow for unlimited digital clips, unlimited keyword searches, permanent archiving and editing capabilities.

Prospective small business vendors have until Feb. 17 to submit questions about the solicitation, and until Feb. 23 to submit their complete proposals.

FEMA envisions awarding a single contract for an indefinite delivery / indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract with a one-year base period and three one-year options.

Further information is available from Bianca Meira-Penna, a FEMA contract specialist, at Bianca.Meira-Penna@dhs.gov.