It is essential to keep abreast of the news being printed or broadcast about your organization, your competition, and the industry as a whole. A comprehensive public and media relations program must track public perception of Linux, stay informed of industry trends, and understand the impact of evolving legislation on your community.

If you have time to spare, you can monitor news coverage yourself by typing key words (such as the name of your organization) into popular web search engines such as Google and AltaVista. However, this will track only online citations. A more reliable tracking method is to use a media monitor service or a clipping service. The website http://dmoz.org/News/Services/Media_Monitoring/ provides a long list of media monitoring services, some of which are provided in the Appendix.

In Chapter 5, News Releases—the Major Communications Tool we will examine the parts of a news release and discuss what can make your releases stand out from the crowd.