Attachment QA Amendment 3.pdf

RFQ 15JPSS22Q00000037

News Clips Solicitation

Amendment 3: Questions and Answers

Amendment 3 updates responses provided with amendment 2. Updates to the responses are highlighted.

Question No.

Page # Section and Paragraph # or Attachment

Question/Comment Recommended Changes or Supplemental Information Requested

Response

1 p. 21 Section I

(SOW);

Paragraph D-b

Will the awarded vendor be expected to provide summaries of all relevant- DOJ articles found in open source (OSINT) or just those articles authored by DOJ beat reporters?

Summaries should address all relevant DOJ articles.

2 p. 21 Section I

(SOW);

Paragraph D-b

By “concise summaries”, is the DOJ seeking a 1-4 sentence written narrative of each top story or something more detailed?

Additionally, should the written summaries include tone of coverage or how the coverage/reporting differs by media outlet, or does DOJ prefer just a simple summary of content only?

The consolidated summary shall include DOJ-relevant excerpts from each article and excerpts unique to each article. Redundant and/or extraneous information from each article shall be removed.

The summary shall NOT be the vendor’s interpretation of the coverage. It should include only content from each article.

3 p. 21 Section I

(SOW);

Paragraph D-b & D-c

Are stories included in the ‘consolidated summary of that day’s major news stories’ necessarily different from ‘the morning headlines from major newspaper’? We foresee encountering some overlap between those two.

The morning headlines from the major newspapers is a section separate from the consolidated summaries.

4 p. 21 Section I

(SOW);

Paragraph D-b ii

How extensive is the consolidated summary expected to be?

The consolidated summary shall include DOJ-relevant excerpts from each article and excerpts unique to each article. Redundant and/or extraneous information from each article shall be removed.

The summary shall NOT be the vendor’s interpretation of the coverage. It should include only content from each article.

5 p. 21 Section I

(SOW);

Paragraph D

Are there any news outlets or types of news outlets that should be avoided or left out?

This information is not available at this time.

6 p. 21 Section I

(SOW);

Paragraph D

While doing the searches, is there any topic or type of news such as a negative story that should be avoided?

This information is not available at this time.

7 p. 21 Section I

(SOW);

Paragraph D

What common mistakes are to be avoided at all cost when putting together the briefing?

Please refer to Attachment 1, Statement of Work, Section J, Quality Assurance

8 p. 22 Section I

(SOW);

Paragraph E-e

Since the digest is to provide “consolidated summaries” for articles reporting on the same topic/story, should the external hyperlink be to the most predominant media outlet reporting on that particular story?

Additionally, should the vendor list “See also’s” where links of coverage by other media outlets is provided for further review, or would the DOJ prefer each media outlet/source be identified and hyperlinked within the summary itself?

For story topics that have multiple news articles a single consolidated summary shall be provided.

Each summary shall include external hyperlinks to all source articles referenced.

“See also’s” should be used sparingly as only linking to additional articles and not extracting DOJ-relevant/unique information from articles does not provide a comprehensive view of the day’s major stories.

9 p. 27 Attachment SOW - List of DOJ Beat Reporters

We noted the new inclusion of DOJ Beat Reporter, Andrew Goudsward, with the National Law Journal (NLJ).

Will a ‘National Law Journal Pro’ subscription be required by the vendor in order to ensure the daily digest successfully captures the DOJ’s level of desired NLJ coverage?

The Contractor shall base the deliverables on all major national and local newspapers, national and local television, national radio, news wires, online news outlets, magazines, legal journals, and specialty press/trade journals. The sources shall include subscription-based publications.

10 p. 27 Attachment SOW - List of

If a DOJ Beat Reporter publishes content unrelated to DOJ (for instance

The Contractor shall include the day’s stories as they relate to the work of the Department.

DOJ Beat Reporters a piece on international news) should their story still be included?

11 Can you please provide any insight into what prompted you to revise the scope of the RFP, and are there certain aspects of the new RFP that offerors should focus on?

This information is not available at this time.

12 Does this service require production of Real Time Alerts?

Please refer to Table 1 in the Statement of Work.

13 N/A General Does the Government currently have a vendor providing a similar service? If so, what is the solicitation number, company name, contract value, and original period of performance?

The current contract number is 15JPSS18PPZM00023 and the contractor is Rendon Group. The current contract was awarded for $2,034,171.16 and is currently being extended pending a new award.

14 N/A General If there is an incumbent performing this work presently, was the full period of performance exercised? If not, would the government please provide reasons for a change in service?

This information is not available at this time.

15 N/A General What are the main risks or issues that the Government has faced with past service providers?

What are the Government’s biggest potential concerns with the execution of this Scope of Work?

The challenge with the production of any news clips is providing comprehensive and relevant coverage.

16 N/A General

Would the Government consider adding a funding line (ODC) in the RFP in order for the vendor to acquire any potential paid subscriptions over

Vendors estimate current costs that would fulfill the obligations of the Statement of Work at a fixed point in time but have no way of predicting additional future costs related to

DOJ does not intend to include an ODC line for subscriptions. Offers shall price the solicitation based on their solution which includes the services and subscriptions.

Offerors should include a break out of costs by services and subscriptions or DOJ would review the contractor’s actual costs for subscriptions in the event that DOJ requires that additional subscriptions be included.

time throughout the performance of the work?

news outlets instituting paywalls to content. An ODC line would provide DOJ and the Vendor with a mechanism to add additional paid subscription costs on an ad hoc basis throughout the 4.5 year performance period.

The RFQ will updated to require a price break out.

17 N/A General On average, approximately how many news links (individual articles/broadcasts) are contained in a single Daily News Brief?

From April 1 – 20, the number of stories ranged 50 – 250 with an average of 149 individual articles/broadcasts.

18 N/A General On average, approximately how many news topics (e.g. human-written narratives) are contained in a single Daily News Brief?

The current services do not include any human-written narratives/consolidated summaries.

19 N/A General Is the sample news briefing intended to be comprehensive or more of an executive briefing (i.e. a limited collection of the day’s top news items of relevance to the Government)?

The sample briefing is intended to be a representative of the product that would be delivered on a daily basis – a comprehensive review of stories as they relate to the work of the Department.

20 N/A General On average, how many news items (articles/broadcasts) are in a single Daily News Brief?

Recommended options:

● <50 news items

● 51-75 news items

● 76-100 news items

● 101-150 news items

● 151-200 news items

From April 1 – 20, the number of stories ranged from 50 – 250 with an average of 149 individual articles/broadcasts.

● 201-300 news items

● More than 301 news items

This directly impacts vendor pricing based on the level of effort required to compile the deliverables.

21 N/A General If the Government prefers interwoven narratives, approximately how many topics or narratives are included in each Daily News Brief on average?

Recommended options:

● <25 narratives

● 26-50 narratives

● 51-75 narratives

● 76-100 narratives

● 101-150 narratives

● More than 150 narratives

This directly impacts vendor pricing based on the level of effort required to compile the deliverables.

The current contract does not include consolidated summaries.

22 N/A General Does the Government currently maintain any online paid subscriptions that would allow them to see news coverage that the vendor links to in the News Brief that may be behind a paywall? If so, to which news outlets? (Including the list

The Contractor should include stories from subscription-based outlets.

Department components who have online subscriptions to certain outlets will have the ability to access the full text of articles behind the applicable paywall.

below as well as others):

● Bloomberg

● Bloomberg Law

● Politico Pro

● Financial Times

● Law360

● Lexology

● New York Times

● Wall Street Journal

● Washington Post

● Trade publications

Or, if not, should the vendor still include these paywalled outlets in the brief? Or how will the government access the paywalled stories?

23 N/A General Does the Government currently have a partner agreement with Dow Jones (includes Wall Street Journal)?

In order to be in legal compliance with Dow Jones, any shared news content including the headline or the article URL, the Government and the Vendor must both have existing partnership agreements with Dow Jones.

The contractor is required to provide all subscriptions as stated in the RFQ.

24 N/A General Does the Government anticipate having a transition period for non-incumbent Vendors?

No transition period is anticipated. The Government is interested in knowing how the contractor will commence performance of services.

25 N/A General Are there expected times or hours the contractor is expected to be available for customer service inquiries or respond to issues? I.e., just during

Meetings and contract administration referenced in the contract will occur Monday through Friday between 6 AM – 6 PM.

overnight production of reports, during business hours, or 24/7?

The RFQ will be updated to address requirements associated with inquiries and issues related to performance.

26 N/A General Given the recent solicitation process for RFP 15JPSS22Q00000024 and the subsequent removal of several deliverables from the Statement of Work, can the Government describe what led to the removal of those deliverables? Was cost a driving factor? Does the Government have a prospective ceiling price/budget related to this work?

The previous solicitation was canceled because the Government did not receive any responsive offers for the previous solicitation. Price was not a driving factor for the cancellation the previous solicitation.

27 Page 1, Statement of Work

Section I – Statement of Work (SOW), A.

Background

For the Daily News Brief, does the government expect

(1) a custom narrative manually written by the Vendor company and its human analyst staff,

(2) a compilation of news items with summary excerpts pulled directly from the news articles, or something else? If (3), please explain.

The consolidated summary shall be written by human analysts and shall include DOJ-relevant excerpts from each article and excerpts unique to each article. Redundant and/or extraneous information from each article shall be removed.

The summary shall NOT be the vendor’s interpretation of the coverage. It should include only content from each article.

The RFQ will be updated to address requirements associated with inquiries and issues related to performance

28 Page 1, Statement of Work

Section I – Statement of Work (SOW), A.

Background

It is not clear from the PWS the writing style that the government would like for the organization and grouping and summarizing of topics, stories, and articles. (I.e., “Stories under each subject matter shall then be organized by story” and “The

The consolidated summary shall be written by human analysts and shall include DOJ-relevant excerpts from each article and excerpts unique to each article. Redundant and/or extraneous information from each article shall be removed.

consolidated summary shall include DOJ-relevant information for each consolidated summary”) Can the government provide an example of the article grouping and consolidated summary from the current report?

Or, if the government has a preferred writing style or deliverable format, can you please provide an example paragraph or entry to demonstrate the preferred approach?

The summary shall NOT be the vendor’s interpretation of the coverage. It should include only content from each article.

The RFQ will be updated to address this response.

29 Page 1, Statement of Work

Section I – Statement of Work (SOW), A.

Background

In the Background section, the Government indicates the Vendor will “provide summation that demonstrates understanding of the daily news as it relates to DOJ’s complex legal environment.” Does the Government require that Vendors use human analysts to summarize the news surrounding a topic, effectively writing a comprehensive summary from scratch?

The consolidated summary shall be written by human analysts and shall include DOJ-relevant excerpts from each article and excerpts unique to each article. Redundant and/or extraneous information from each article shall be removed.

The summary shall NOT be the vendor’s interpretation of the coverage. It should include only content from each article.

The RFQ will be updated to address this response.

30 Page 1 Section I – Statement of Work (SOW), C.

Requirements, 1.

“Contractor shall not include original stories that are more than two (2) business days old.” Are there circumstances where it is expected to include content outside of the 24-hr range?

No. The Government has previously encountered times when older stories have been included. Older articles are not the most relevant and therefore impact the quality of performance.

31 Page 1 Section I – Statement of Work (SOW), C.

The Government indicates “sources shall include subscription-based publications.” Can the Government provide a must-have list of news

The contractor should provide this as part of their solution to meeting DOJ’s requirements.

Requirements, 3.

outlets or sources that the Vendor is required to have access to? This directly impacts the vendor’s estimated pricing for this work. To include the below outlets as well as any others that the vendor is required to have subscriptions to:

● Bloomberg

● Bloomberg Law

● Politico Pro

● Financial Times

● Law360

● Lexology

● New York Times

● Wall Street Journal

● Washington Post

● Trade publication

32 Page 1 Section I – Statement of Work (SOW), C.

Requirements, 3.

Can the Government confirm that, compared to a prior solicitation of similar scope and intent, that there is no expectation that Vendors provide full-text news articles in this Statement of Work?

There is no expectation to provide full text news articles.

33 Page 2 Section I – Statement of Work (SOW), C.

Requirements, 7.

Throughout the SOW, the Government alludes to Vendors being able to “adequately address the DOJ's complex legal environment.” Does DOJ require that the human analysts have legal training? If not, does DOJ expect to provide any training materials to help guide decision-making related to legal content?

The Department does not expect the analysts to have legal training.

The Department will provide any technical guidance specific to its complex legal environment as part of the kick-off meeting and subsequent meetings at the COR’s discretion.

34 Page 3 Section I – Statement of Work (SOW), Does the Government expect relevant publications from the

The Government does not expect Federal Register publications to be included as a source.

D. Specific Requirements, b, i.

Federal Register to be included? If so, should they be categorized separately from other other articles or integrated into topic-specific categories?

35 Page 3 Section I – Statement of Work (SOW), D. Specific Requirements, b, i.

Is the contractor expected to create/hand-write news topic titles based on the ad-hoc subject matter in news, or can we use the article headlines as published to reference content?

The vendor can use article headlines as published.

36 Page 5 Section I – Statement of Work (SOW), F. Delivery, Table 1.

Does the 0615 Monday deliverable only include information from 1300 Sunday - 0615 Monday (as opposed to the previous 24 hours)?

The monitoring period for the Monday News Briefing is approximately 12:00pm on Sunday through approximately 6:00am on Monday.

37 Page 5 Section I – Statement of Work (SOW), F. Delivery

The Government requires that Vendors “maintain the distribution list for the News Briefing. The Contractor shall be prepared to accommodate regular changes to the distribution list.” How many people are on the current distribution list (estimate)? Can the Government estimate how often distribution list additions/removals are required?

There are approximately 1500 email addresses on the current distribution list.

(Some of those email addresses represent distribution lists themselves.) Currently, requests to be added/removed from the distribution lists are received almost daily with a fulfillment time of seven (7) calendar days.

The Government expects changes to the distribution lists to be fulfilled within seven

(7) calendar days of receipt.

The RFQ will be updated to address this response.

38 Page 5 Section I – Statement of Work (SOW), F. Delivery

Per the distribution list management, would the Government be satisfied with an opt-in subscription

The Government does not want an opt-in subscription option.

where individual DOJ users are able to selectively subscribe or unsubscribe at will?

39 Page 5 Section I – Statement of Work (SOW), Table 1.

Deliverables

Can the Government confirm that there is only a single daily deliverable, which is the News Briefing and a one-time deliverable of the Quality Assurance Plan?

Please refer to Table 1 in the Statement of Work for the list of required deliverables.

40 Page 5 Section I – Statement of Work (SOW), Table 1.

Deliverables

Is the Quality Assurance Plan required for each option year?

The Quality Assurance Plan shall address each year of performance.

41 Page 5 Section I – Statement of Work (SOW), Table 1.

Deliverables

Please confirm that the only two holidays with no delivery are Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

Please refer to the Table 1 in the Statement of Work for the required days of delivery.

42 Phase 1 SOW Section D.c states the following is required: “The News Briefing shall also include the day's Washington Schedule, Congressional hearings of interest to DOJ, morning headlines from major newspapers, and the story line ups from the previous evening’s network news programs and prime time editorial programs from the three largest cable news networks. Please confirm if this information is requested in the Phase 1 deliverable, and if so, where this information may be found and how this information (e.g., "Washington Schedule", "major" newspapers, "largest" networks), is defined and determined.

These items are required for the Phase 1 sample deliverable.

Offerors should demonstrate their capability by providing these items as part of their solution.

43 Phase 1 Is there a sentence limit for the summary? Additionally, Is there a page limit?

There is not a sentence limit for each consolidated summary.

The consolidated summary shall be written by human analysts and shall include DOJ-relevant excerpts from each article and excerpts unique to each article. Redundant and/or extraneous information from each article shall be removed.

The summary shall NOT be the vendor’s interpretation of the coverage. It should include only content from each article.

There is not a page limit to the News Briefing. The email size cannot exceed

30MB.

44 Phase 1 Please confirm that you would like traditional media (print, digital, and streaming) and if podcasts are to be included

Podcasts do not need to be included.

45 Phase 1 Should we stick to outlets on page 27- 28 that have reporters listed or should international and more local stories be included? If so, what is the cut off for outlet size (state level media outlets or more local ones?)

The Contractor shall base the deliverables on all major national and local newspapers, national and local television, national radio, news wires, online news outlets, magazines, legal journals, and specialty press/trade journals. The sources shall include subscription-based publications.

The Government currently does not have a cut off for outlet size.

46 Phase 1 Do you have specific fonts to be used and do we need to make a template for this that has the DoJ branding?

The Government does not have specific fonts to be used. The Government does not require a template with DOJ branding, but the vendor can choose to do so.

47 Phase 1 Would you like us to designate if something is not just text? For example, a video or an article behind a paywall.

The vendor can make those distinctions in the sample deliverable.