News_Clips_QuestionsAnswers_Amend_4_final.pdf

DOJ News Clipping Service 15JPSS18RQZM00005, Amendment 4

1. The “Real-Time Clips” product requires delivery “as articles are available online” from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm ET. At 7:00 am, does the Department expect to receive individual, full-text emails of every article published between 7:00 pm the night before and 7:00 am on the day of delivery?

Or will articles published overnight during this 12-hour gap be put into the Morning Digest only?

Response: No. Per Section II.D.2.c, the Morning Digest shall also include relevant articles/broadcasts that were posted after 7:00pm of the previous day.

2. If the Department does expect to receive individual, full-text emails of every article published between 7:00 pm the night before and 7:00 am on the day of delivery, would the Department accept an alternative presentations of delivery to drastically reduce the number of emails received, ie: a single, comprehensive email with all articles published during the 12-hour gap with links to hosted, full-text content?

Response: No. See the answer to 1 above.

3. With regard to full-text content: would the Department accept a presentation that provides a summary of each article and a hyperlink to access hosted, full-text content (ie: not a link to the third-party content provider, but full text on a secure, hosted, and archived site) rather than full text in the body of each email?

Response: No. Refer to Section II.F for the format of the deliverables.

4. With regard to summaries as they pertain to both Real-Time Clips and both Morning and Afternoon Digests, will the Department accept a clip of the article’s most-relevant content as it pertains to the DOJ, rather than simply the first one or two paragraphs?

Response: Refer to Section II.F for the format of the deliverables.

5. We understand that wider-scale distribution, as listed in Section II, C, 7 may be handled via internal distribution. How many direct-from-contractor recipients will there be of the Real-Time Clips, Morning Digest and Afternoon Digest?

Response: Refer to Section II.D.3.b.

6. What sorts of positions / staff members will make up the direct-from-contractor recipient list?

Response: This information is not available at this time.

7. It appears that in Section V, C, 1, d requires the live samples from February 12 and 13 are also added as content in the Technical Proposal. Can you confirm?

Response: No, the content of the sample products/deliverables should not be included in the Technical response volume of the offeror’s response. In order to be evaluated, the content of sample deliverables/products shall be delivered to DOJNewsClipsRFQ2018@usdoj.gov. RFQ Section V, C, 1, d has been updated to include tab requirements for the technical response volume related to sample deliverables/products.

8. Is there a current incumbent providing these services? If so, what is the current contract number? What is the total contract amount? What is the currently obligated amount for the latest PoP?

Response: The DOJ does not have a contract for the same requirements as contained in this contract. The DOJ does have a contract, DJJ13C2355, for similar services which is awarded to Bulletin News, LLC for a total estimated amount of $ 1,789,944.00.

9. We note the Period of Performance for Base Year to be April 1 2018 – September 30 2018. Is it the Government’s intention for Awarded Contractor to provide first deliverable by April 1? Or to begin work with DOJ PAO transitioning the News Clip product and formatting to specifications?

a) If the former, will there be an implementation / feedback period in order to help Contractor refine specific feedback by DOJ PAO?

b) If the latter, is there a desired first day for the first “News Clip” to be delivered to the recipient list?

Response: The start date for the period of performance is based on the current contract’s end date and when the Government expects to make an award. The first deliverable shall be delivered on the start date of the base period of performance. The RFQ has been updated at II.C.8 to address how the Contractor will work with DOJ PAO to obtain feedback during the period of performance. Refer to II.C.6 for requirements related to updates required to the deliverables.

10. Can the Government please provide a Word version of the Solicitation package?

Response: No, the available versions of the solicitation is posted at FedBizOpps.gov.

11. Are both daily digests (morning and afternoon) to be manually reviewed with human analysts?

Response: Refer to Sections II.C.4 and II.C.5.

mailto:DOJNewsClipsRFQ2018@usdoj.gov

12. Do you have any current samples of the Morning/Afternoon News Digests and Real-Time News Clips that you can share to help understand size and scope?

Response: Per Section II.A, the Department does not currently receive the deliverables described in Section II.D and II.F. Please see Section II.F for the format of the deliverables.

13. We understand that the media environment surrounding the topics requested are unpredictable. However, most customers have a desired target for the size/volume of a daily news digest. We are wondering if the Government can provide an expected average volume of news clips to be provided in each Deliverable on a “normal” news day:

Weekday Morning Clips Average Desired Volume of Articles:

Weekday Afternoon Clips Average Desired Volume of Articles:

Weekend / Holidays News Clips Average Desired Volume of Articles:

Response: The number of real-time clips and length and composition of the news digests will vary on a daily basis. Some days there may be 700 real-time clips. Other days, there may be

300. For the purposes of understanding the most recent 2-week period of news coverage but not to provide a guide for the deliverables described in this solicitation, a current deliverable (daily full text clips delivered each morning) included, on average, just over 300 stories.

14. Real Time News Clips: Is it required for each Real-Time News Clips to be manually vetted and reviewed by a human analyst prior to dissemination?

Response: Refer to Sections II.C.4 and II.C.5.

15. Real Time News Clips: Are articles selected for Real-Time News Clips disseminated throughout the day to be reproduced in News Digests as well? In other words, if an article is sent as a Real- Time News Clip and then fits the criteria for a News Digest, should that same article be included in the next News Clip deliverable?

Response: Yes. Refer to Section II.D.2.b.

16. Real Time News Clips: What is the expected/desired/or anticipated volume of Real Time News Clips to be delivered on a day to day?

Response: See the answer to question 13 above.

17. Real Time News Clips: For articles that fall outside the 7:00am – 7:00pm Weekday time window, is there any need for delivery or automatic repository somewhere that is accessible as required by Users from 7:01pm – 6:59am?

Response: No, all requirements are contained in the solicitation.

18. Real Time News Clips: Would the Government consider a web-based platform that hosts real-time news clips and displays new clips in real time that Users can access 24/7, supplemented by email alerts upon new articles to Users? This would potentially help minimize costs to the government and provide a more “self-serve” approach.

Response: No, that approach does not meet the Governments requirements at this time.

19. News Digests: Are there any content differences between Weekday and Weekend news digests?

Response: No.

20. News Digests: How many different total categories are desired for the News Clips? We note II.2)b) highlights 3 different topic categories. Please confirm this is accurate.

Response: Section II.D.2.b lists the three desired categories.

21. News Digests: F. Format of Deliverables, e), specifies a requirement as “for print stories, the link should be to the original full text versions on the original publisher’s website”. Would these not be considered “online” stories if the original versions are available on a publisher’s website? Or is the Government looking for the online version of print articles? Or is the Government looking for a link to the full text of the printed article?

Response: The distinction was made to highlight the format requirements between print stories and TV/radio broadcasts. It was not meant to distinguish between online text versions and print hard-copy versions of articles.

22. News Digests: Please confirm time of delivery is Eastern Standard Time.

Response: All responses times are Eastern Time as stated on FedBizOpps.gov.

23. News Digests: We note the “list for news digests is not expected to exceed 100 email addresses”. However, in II. C). 7) the text states that the “Department reserves the right to distribute the products in electronic or hard copy format internally within the DOJ on an unlimited basis.” Given the Government in some instances has requested full-text clips, copyright and fair-use will apply here, and thus the “unlimited basis” will supercede as copyright needs to be considered for all potential DOJ readers. Is this the Government’s intent? Or, please provide a clarifying statement with regards to copyright authorizations as far as how Respondents should calculate the potential readership of copyrighted content.

Response: The RFQ section referenced has been updated. The Department will not opine on any legal matters including copyright. The Contractor is responsible for ensuring that it has the right to provide the content required for internal use by the Department in the manner specified in the solicitation.

24. Will there be a need for any online software platform hosting and/or analyzing all news content for access by DOJ PAO users? This would be in order to help create analytical reports on relevant DOJ news coverage.

Response: No, all requirements are contained in the solicitation.

25. Schedule of Prices: We note the CLINs as outlined in I. B Schedule of Prices are defined by their Period of Time. We believe the Government would have a more thorough understanding of the costs comprised in the Deliverables if each Deliverable required were outlined as sub-CLINs.

Further, this would enable the Government to further understand certain requirements’ respective costs, such as weekend delivery, human-curated real-time news clips, and more.

Would the Government consider adjusting the Schedule of Prices incorporating more detailed CLIN pricing structure, such as a CLIN / sub-CLIN for each of the 3 deliverables and/or deliverable timelines (weekday vs. weekend/holidays)?

Response: No but the Government would like to review a price breakout to support the technical response as included in the solicitation Section V, C, 3, b.

26. Sample deliverables/products: Is the Government willing to spend a few minutes providing a feedback session on Proponent sample formats prior to the Sample Deliverable timeline as described in Section V, C. 1. d)? We believe the incumbent may have an advantage by knowing the current desired format and design of the current template, and we are hoping for an opportunity to showcase a potential sample design prior to sample delivery along with the content we can pull. Alternatively, is the Government willing to share a current sample (removing all identifying marks) to help guide sample designs?

described in Section II.D and II.F.

27. Is the Department of Justice currently receiving this type of news clip service? If so, who is the incumbent company and what is the full value of the contract?

Response: See the answer to 8 above.

28. Did the incumbent or previous contract awardee complete the full period of performance (Base + Option Years)?

Response: DOJ does not currently have a contract for the same requirements contained in this solicitation. The DOJ does have a contract, DJJ13C2355, for similar services which is awarded to Bulletin News, LLC for a total estimated amount of $ 1,789,944.00.

29. In the Statement of Work, Section II.C.3 indicates the Contractor will be responsible for subscription-based publications. Does DOJ expect the Contractor to acquire high-cost subscription services, such as Politico Pro ($10k), Financial Times ($5k+), and others? This information will factor into our pricing estimate.

How many subscriptions is the Contractor expected to acquire as part of this work (either estimated in numbers or overall cost)?

Response: Market research and previous media monitoring procurements indicate that comprehensive coverage will require articles/stories from subscription-based sources in order to meet solicitation requirements. The RFQ has been updated to clarify DOJ’s requirements. DOJ would like offerors to include subscriptions that meet DOJ’s requirements in the technical response.

30. Can the Government provide a sample of a previous report?

described in Section II.D and II.F.

31. For both Requirement 1) Real-Time News Clips and 2) Morning and Afternoon Digests, what is the expected number of articles to be captured in a day?

For example, how many news alerts would DOJ expect on an average day (0-5, 5-10, 10+)?

Would all relevant news articles need to be delivered as a news alert or is there a threshold for what would warrant a news alert (i.e. breaking news, of particular interest to leadership, etc)?

Response: See the answer to 13 above.

32. Do the digests include news alerts that were also sent as a real-time news alert, or do the digests exclude articles that were sent as alerts?

Response: Please see Section II.D.2.b.

33. Page 1 of the solicitation appears to be missing text between the end of the first paragraph and the first romanette (“ii”). Please provide if material.

Response: All text has been included. The RFP has been modified to add a title and paragraph number “I” to the first paragraph of text.

34. Section I(A) states that an award will be made to one contractor. Will DOJ consider an arrangement in which it writes one contract with a company to provide the expert analysts, and another with a company that provides licensed full text, provided that the capabilities of each are fully described, and pricing is presented for each?

Response: Only one award will be made in response to the requirements included in this solicitation. However, the Department will consider signing a licensing agreement for access to real-time full-text clips. The Offeror shall include the licensing agreement and required agreement terms in the technical response. The Offeror must include licensing costs in their price proposals.

35. Section II lists Twitter as a required source in the generalized language (A & C) but only references “news” in the Specific Requirement section (D). Manual review of Twitter if broad is a significant undertaking. The expense can be limited if only certain influencers (e.g., new outlets and/or specific reporters) are monitored. Of course, eliminating Twitter is the lowest-cost option when human review is required. Can the Department clarify its requirement?

Response: Twitter sources should be blue checked from news-related sources. A broad review of Twitter is not required.

36. If the requirement to include Twitter remains, would each Tweet need to be delivered via an individual email?

Response: Refer to Section II.F.1 for the format of the real-time news clips.

37. Section II(C) refers to press releases and media advisories. We assume the search criteria described in Section II(D) will guide the overall effort, and the releases and advisories will be reviewed to potentially expand the topic list on a day-to-day basis. Is that correct?

Response: The press releases, media advisories, and relevant reports should be incorporated into the search criteria described in Section II.D. on a day-to-day basis.

38. Section II(C)(6) describes a contractor “adjustment.” To be clear, is the reference to a *price* adjustment that a contractor would need to make to accommodate significant changes in scope?

Response: Section II, C, 6 has been updated to clarify that this section is not related to price and that any change is within scope.

39. Section II(C)(7) requires that DOJ have rights to redistribute “the products” on an unlimited basis. Is that intended to apply just to the digests? Licensed full text for the RTNC will be priced by the seat, and we assume the intent is that contractors provide a price for 25 readers only.

Response: The RFQ has been updated.

40. Section II(F) describes how broadcast should be formatted for the digest but not for the RTNC. Is broadcast to be included and if so, should the format follow the Digest’s?

Does DOJ require clips of television “as-broadcast” as part of the Real Time Clips service, as opposed to content that may or may not have been aired which is posted on a station’s website?

Also, if the same segment is broadcast multiple times, is the requirement to deliver each broadcast, or only the first?

Response: Please see Section II.F.1.c for the format of the deliverables. Television clips should be as broadcast. The first broadcast is sufficient.

41. Section II(D)(1)(b) provides the topics to be monitored for the RTNC. The requirement is to monitor for “major” news stories. A story that DOJ Public Affairs Office might consider minor could simultaneously be major to the USMS. May we assume that DOJ Public Affairs Office is the audience that matters for that determination?

Response: Coverage should be comprehensive for the real-time clips and should include any related stories on the topics that meet solicitation requirements as described in Section II.D.1.

42. Section II (D)(1)(b). Similarly, some of the Real Time Clips topics are broad (e.g., breaking news related to the federal government). Can you help offerors understand the scale of the expectation through a few examples? Which of the following broader federal government news stories from yesterday’s news might have risen to the level of inclusion: (a) Immigration debate;

(b) speculation about changes to the Cabinet; (c) Secret Service overtime issues; (d) stories related to House activity on infrastructure (or budget or the debt ceiling, etc.); (e) Davos speech and reaction?

Response: If any of the above-listed stories fit the description of “breaking news,” then it should be considered a real-time news clip. Coverage should be comprehensive for real-time clips and should include any related stories on the topics that meet the solicitation requirements. Whether a particular story is breaking news depending on a variety of circumstances. The awardees should be qualified to determine whether a particular story is breaking news under the circumstances.

43. Section II (D)(2) Related to the Digests:

DOJ routinely has multiple high-profile stories about its officials and its priorities. How many items about the same topic should be listed in the digest?

Is there a length limit for the Digest deliverables?

Response: The length and composition of the digests will vary on a daily basis depending on the day’s new coverage. The email size cannot exceed 30MG.

44. Section II(D)(2)(b). Related to the Digests, the topic list includes “DOJ.” Is that meant to be narrow (mentions of the US Department of Justice specifically) or broader (FBI, DEA, USMS, etc.

even if DOJ isn’t a focus)?

Response: “DOJ” includes any component organization listed in relevant, important, and widely covered stories.

45. Section II(D)(2)(c) requires that the Morning Digest include content not sent as a RTNC after 7:00

pm. We assume those stories would be included in digest form, the result being that stories that become available outside the RTNC window (7:00 pm to 7:00 am) will never be delivered as full text. Is that accurate?

Response: Yes. Per Section II.D.2.c, the Morning Digest shall also include relevant articles/broadcasts that were posted after 7:00pm of the previous day.

46. Section II(E). Please confirm that the briefing *is* required on holidays, except for Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day

Response: Per Section II.E, the deliverables are required every day with the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

47. Section II(E) interplay with Section II(F)(1)(d), as relates to the RTNC. The “two paragraphs” approach allows for comprehensive coverage, expanding the scope beyond stories that are available under license. Imagine that a story becomes available online before it becomes available under license. The licensed version might be delayed 5 minutes or it might be delayed by hours, and the specific delay will be unknowable in advance to the analyst. The surest way to get you the story the fastest is to immediately send whatever comes in first, even if that’s a 2-paragraph approach to a story that may eventually also be available in full text. Is that the approach you would like vendors to take? The result would be more speed but also a decrease in the amount of content delivered in full text.

Response: The Offeror shall include the terms of any licensing agreements in the technical response. The RFQ has been updated.

48. Section II(F)(a). The requirement is that the full text not contain extraneous images/logos.

Licensed full-text vendors will require that their logo and certain notices (e.g, about copyright) appear with each story. Is that acceptable to DOJ?

Response: It is acceptable to adhere to the licensing agreement requirements.

49. Section II(F)(d). Many in the industry would argue that a two-paragraph excerpt is not a fair use.

We have two questions on this:

Will you entertain offers that would provide less text?

The first paragraph is often repetitious across multiple sources because of the way reporters lead their stories. We typically recommend that the text snippet be selected to provide better context. Are you open to contextually selected blocks of text?

Response: Please see Section II.F for the format of the deliverables. The RFQ has been updated. The Contractor is responsible for ensuring that it has the legal right to provide the required content for distribution by the Department as set forth in this solicitation.

50. Section V(A)(3). Please confirm that PDF submission is acceptable, and that offerors are not required to submit the referenced “bound volumes.”

Response: Each volume does not need to be bound but they should be provided in separate files. The solicitation has been updated.

51. Section V(C)(d). Will DOJ whitelist offerors in advance or in some way ensure a high volume of emails will not be captured in filters?

Response: Receipt of emails containing the content of the sample deliverables required as part of the technical volume will be verified using the list provided with the Offeror’s technical response. Emails containing the content of the sample deliverables must not exceed 30MG;

must originate from email systems with properly configured Sender Policy Framework (SPF) records; and must not contain malicious attachments and/or links. DOJ IT staff are aware of the potential volume of emails expected to be received at the designated mailbox, and procedures are in place to identify any vendor emails that fail to make it past filtering.