Summary Description - Media Alert

Founded in 1994 in Tampa, Media Alert has served as a “news conduit” between local media and public information officers (PIOs) within a 10-county area consisting of Hernando, Pasco, Polk, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, De Soto, Highlands, Hardee and Sarasota.

Media Alert’s success over the years has resulted from two primary elements –

  1. Delivery of messages to the media within 60 seconds of the time of release by the issuing agency.
  2. Restricting access to important, vital issuing agencies (no promotional materials).

For the past 11 years Media Alert has provided newspapers and radio and television stations with “instant” access to news releases issued by law enforcement, safety and emergency management public information officers (PIOs) among others.

A. The Media Alert System

Variously referred to as “an instant news conference”, “a deliverer of instantaneous news” and sometimes as “an electronic information provider”, each of these descriptions has some basis in fact. Essentially, Media Alert is a conduit between the PIO who needs to reach the public quickly and efficiently and the television, radio and newspaper editors who provide that important news to their respective publics.

Media Alert provides each PIO of a qualified organization with a secure “login” code plus a private password recognized by the company’s unique, proprietary system. Once these two elements are entered into the system, with a single touch of the PIO’s keyboard the message is uploaded to the Media Alert’s central dispatcher and simultaneously delivered to each media newsroom within 60 seconds.

As one TV news editor said, “When I get the news releases on my Media Alert monitor I know two things right away... it’s official news and no other station got it before I did. It’s like an instant news conference.”

B. Users

Some law enforcement, safety and emergency management officials in counties outside the basic service area have teamed with Media Alert to improve their news delivery functions. A wide variety of services depend on Media Alert. These include county Emergency Management Operating Centers, municipal and county police and fire departments, county sheriffs, courts, hospitals and blood centers, Alzheimer's agencies and water, electric and telephone utilities.

Among the Florida state agencies already using Media Alert to reach newsrooms are the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Florida Department of Transportation, Florida Fish and Wildlife, Florida Marine Patrol, Turnpike Authority, universities and school systems.

Media Alert is extremely proud of its role as a key element of the State of Florida’s AMBER Alert Plan, a “single entry point” notification system through the FDLE.

A SUMMARY OF MEDIA ALERT ADVANTAGES AS DEFINED
BY TELEVISION, RADIO AND NEWSPAPER NEWS EDITORS:

  • News coverage – 24/7 –nights, weekends, holidays.
  • Comes directly onto my primary news server – doesn’t get lost in e-mails or FAX pile.
  • With more than 130 Public Information Officers sending their news releases over the Media Alert system, it really takes the pressure off of my staff.
  • Watches your back when a reporter is not available.
  • Covers stories for you even in smallest towns and municipalities. Big news isn’t confined to big cities.
  • Furnishes specific data to “flesh out” your stories.
  • AMBER Alerts directly and instantly from FDLE.
  • Supplies accurate names and specific charges – even reproducible photos – from police, sheriffs, FDLE.
  • Releases my reporters to cover other stories.
  • You’re not “lost in the FAX lane” by receiving information after your competition has it.
  • Important local, regional and state information is delivered to my newsroom computer – directly from news sources – within ONE MINUTE!
  • "The value of Media Alert is just outstanding – We spend more to handle one story than the monthly fee for Media Alert”.

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