Making better decisions using media evidence for a Government Ministry

This Ministry had been gathering superficial, quantitative media data, tallying views, clicks, “likes” and sentiment to develop an intuitive feel about its image and track record. It now needed objective proof and qualitative data to help meet performance targets, learn from media intelligence and help to promote better policy.

The challenge

  • Help the Ministry to better understand what contributed to its reputation rather than just attributing praise and blame for good and bad results.  
  • Specifically, the Ministry needed to learn how the media talked about equity in relation to policy. Did the media think policy outcomes were equitable for all New Zealanders? How was media influencing the debate about equitable outcomes for New Zealanders? 

Our response

We constructed an interactive dashboard containing data and insights that demonstrated the Ministry’s impact on a Government policy discussion.  We delivered quantitative metrics and trends over time, empirical evidence and qualitative feedback that demonstrated:   

  • what stories created demand – in news and social media 
  • how advocacy groups and opinionated media were shaping public opinion 
  • when and where the metrics in the media corresponded with the Ministry’s goals 
  • when and why equity was a positive or negative message
  • how the agency achieved a good result or otherwise.  
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