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• Enables control of information campaigns

• Enables compilation of substantial media archive

• Enables initial subject classification

• Confusion of the terms «content monitoring» and «content analysis»

• No perspective of further document use

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• Creates media databases

• Preserves media information in a condensed form unlike full-text articles

• Enables statistical and other analysis of media data

• Makes qualitative analysis of media data easier

• Is the first stage of content analysis

• Is a mechanical, but necessary stage of content analysis

• Coded data is rarely considered as a separate document

• Is Labour-intensive and demands high qualification (unlike coding in sociometry)

• Weak possibility for data processing automatization

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• Informs about mass media covering new events and companies

• Serves as a basis for complex research (for example, combined with audience analysis)

• Contains relevant conclusions

• Enables monitoring and forecasting of market dynamics

• Often contains unnecessary information and verbiage

• Information is often non-readable

• Conclusions drawn rarely coincide with the arguments

• Insufficient number of arguments for conclusions

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• Inform about interrelation of subjects (for example, markets interaction, recurrence of conflicts, media impact on target audiences, relevance of media coverage)

• No clear understanding by the client of the tasks of complex research

• No clear strategy of reputation or situation monitoring

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• Enables conclusions based on quantitative parameters

• Enable full use of media reporting

• Enables automatization of data processing

• Not all quantitative research documents are logically coherent

• Some quantitative data is presented in the form of lengthy tables and diagrams

• Quantitative data in some documents is poorly organized: tables and diagrams are contained in appendices, while comment is in the ‘conclusions’ section.

• Level of human effort can sometimes be underestimated by the clients due to their lack of knowledge about the procedure

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• Unlike a simple media digest, it contains qualitatively new information about a subject. Qualitative research enables one to explore new implications that are impossible with single article analysis

• Qualitative research can be presented as a classified media monitoring report

• Qualitative research can be based on poorly differentiated links, comments and situation assessment. This makes a qualitative report look like a linguistically decorated journalist article

On quantitative and qualitative research combination

• Some researchers compile content analysis reports on the basis of quantitative or qualitative data only. Conclusions are drawn either on quantitative dynamics or diagram links, or on substantial data. This makes such reporting senseless.

• Methodological poorness of a research can lead to incoherence of quantitative and qualitative data.

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• Enables to define informational policy of a media source on the subjects, companies or events covered

• Makes sure of a media source’s political affiliation

• Reveals opinions and comments on various issues

• Reveals no links between events, apart from particular events

• Reveals no audience reaction to the comments or event coverage

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• Provides an overall picture of events based on a number of cheap resources

• Enables to collect basic reference information for further report and audience monitoring (research of media coverage relevance, audience reaction, knowledge of current events)

• Enables to forecast event development.

• Reveals no information policy of media sources on events and companies coverage

• Demands additional non-media sources

• Can lead to the confusion of past events research and forecasting

• Makes possible confusion of events implications by the media source and the researcher.

On media research by subject

• Confusion of the language of event research and language of information value research

• Confusion of expert comments provided in mass media and researcher evaluations