Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Clipping Services

Before the Internet, press clipping services once provided a necessary service to anyone running a publicity campaign.

With teams of readers scattered across many geographical markets, they would monitor print media for specific keywords and then snip out the articles, mark the keywords in the margin, and mail the client binders with all the relevant clippings.

Clipping services also advertised in art magazines for illustrators who wanted to collect tearsheets of other artists or photos of certain cities or subjects.

Is it a case of Death by Google? Some of these companies have shifted to monitor digital media, or they've merged or gone the way of the dodo.

But there are still players in the print-clipping game because a lot of print media is hidden behind paywalls.


2 comments:

Christoffer Gertz Bech said...

I actually work at one of those places. These days, it's mostly done digitally, but there are still a few magazines that are read by people and cut with scissors. And then there is TV and radio. That's actually what I do - listen to news on TV and radio and write short summaries of relevant stories that go into the searchable database. It's an OK bread-and-butter job; it's interesting enough, but it doesn't drain me completely, so I can still go home and draw and paint.

Also, it's not too stressful. Plenty of time to check Gurney Journey while I'm at work ...

Sesco said...

I would be interested to know of your top three choices of content behind paywalls.