Form SV-2006-0003 Foreign Press Center (FPC) Services

Dear Journalists and Press Attachés:

The U.S. Department of State is interested in learning how you use the products and services offered by the Foreign Press Centers (FPCs). In particular, we are interested in how you use and value FPC facilitation services, information and contact services, facilities (provided in Washington DC, New York City and Los Angeles), and Internet services. By telling us which products and services you use and what you would like to see more of, you will be helping us to give you more of what you need and value.

• We anticipate that it will take approximately twenty (20) minutes to complete this survey.

• The best answers should reflect your own experiences and feelings.

• The data from this survey will be used for internal purposes only. No names will be disclosed.

• Please fill out the survey completely – the more feedback we receive, the better we will be able to serve you.

Thank you for your participation! Your friends and colleagues at the Foreign Press Center greatly value your responses. If you have any technical difficulties with the survey, please contact our technical staff at egoals@state.gov.

If you have any questions regarding the purpose and goals of this survey, please contact Robert Greenan at greenanrj@state.gov, Jess Baily at bailyj@state.gov, Mike Kiel at kielmj@state.gov or Haider Karzai at fpcla@cruznet.net.

Please know that your answers will be strictly confidential and will in no way affect your participation in the program. We will use the data for analytical and evaluative purposes only.

Please feel free to give us your honest opinions. This survey is not a test and there are no right or wrong answers.

Thank you for your participation in this survey!

Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction Act Statements:

The information solicited on this survey is requested pursuant to the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-62) and the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, as amended, also known as the Fulbright-Hays Act (22 U.S.C. 2451, et seq.). In order to ensure that the U.S. Department of State’s international exchange programs meet statutory program requirements (22 U.S.C. 2460(c)), the Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) regularly monitors the programs, gathers data about program accomplishments, and evaluates selected ones. ECA uses the information collected to inform program design, management, and funding. All personal information that is collected through surveys is considered confidential. All responses are coded to ensure the confidentiality of individual responses. Data collected under this study will not be shared, sold, or used for fundraising purposes. Survey data and findings will be used only in an aggregate form for the express purposes of fulfilling the data needs of the outcome assessment. Responses to this survey are voluntary.

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average twenty (20) minutes to respond to this survey, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. An Agency may not conduct or sponsor, and respondents are not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. Please send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to: A/RPS/DIR, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C. 20520.

FOREIGN PRESS CENTER (FPC) SERVICES

To begin, we would like to ask you about the services that FPC provides.

1. How valuable are the following FPC facilitation services to you? Please rate how much you value the following services. (Please select one box in each row.)

FPC Service	Do not value at all	Value a little	Value somewhat	Value a lot		Don’t use this service
Live briefings on key topics	□	□	□	□		□
Briefings via video conference	□	□	□	□		□
Reporting tours	□	□	□	□		□
Research and information services	□	□	□	□		□
Finding contacts, setting up interviews, developing story ideas	□	□	□	□		□
Assistance at major events (summits, conventions, ceremonies, etc.)	□	□	□	□		□
TV assistance	□	□	□	□		□
Department of Defense liaison (access to bases, information, embedding)	□	□	□	□		□
Assistance with obtaining press credentials	□	□	□	□		□
Assistance obtaining drivers licenses, social security cards or other U.S. documents	□	□	□	□		□

2. Which of these facilitation services do you value the most? Why?

3. Which of these facilitation services do you value the least? Why?

4. Please describe other facilitation services that you would like the FPC to provide that would assist you in your reporting:

FPC INFORMATION AND CONTACTS

Next, we would like to find out more about how you use information and contacts provided by FPC in your reporting.

5. In the last six months, how many times have you used information obtained from the following FPC services or products in a story? (Please select one box in each row.)

	Never	Once or twice	Three to five times	Six to ten times	More than ten times		Not applicable
U.S. Government reports on the FPC website	□	□	□	□	□		□
Congressional Research Services reports on the FPC website	□	□	□	□	□		□
Information on key topics and special events on the FPC website	□	□	□	□	□		□
Contact information provided by FPC	□	□	□	□	□		□
Research services provided by FPC information specialists	□	□	□	□	□		□
Alerts on non-FPC press conferences and media events	□	□	□	□	□		□
DC ONLY: Satellite feeds and/or videotapes of FPC briefings and other DoS events	□	□	□	□	□		□

6. Which of these products and/or services do you find the most useful in your reporting? Why?

6. Which of these products and/or services do you find the least useful in your reporting? Why?

8. Please describe other information products and/or services that you would like the FPC to provide that would assist you in your reporting:

FPC FACILITIES

The next set of questions deals with the facilities available at the Washington DC and New York City FPC offices.

If you only use the Los Angeles FPC office, please skip to question 4.

9. Please rate how much you value the following facilities available at the Washington and

New York FPCs. (Please select one box in each row.)

FPC Facility	Do not value at all	Value a little	Value somewhat	Value a lot		Don’t use this facility
Wire services	□	□	□	□		□
Newspapers and magazines	□	□	□	□		□
Telephones	□	□	□	□		□
Photocopiers	□	□	□	□		□
Live audio/video feed of briefings, speeches and hearings	□	□	□	□		□
Interview rooms/space	□	□	□	□		□
Computers	□	□	□	□		□
Reference materials	□	□	□	□		□
Internet access	□	□	□	□		□
DC ONLY: TV studio (Foreign Broadcast Support Unit)	□	□	□	□		□
DC ONLY: Televised feeds	□	□	□	□		□

10. In the past six months, how many times have you used the following FPC facilities?

(Please select one box in each row.)

FPC Facility	Never	Once or twice	Three to five times	Six to ten times	More than ten times
Wire services	□	□	□	□	□
Newspapers and magazines	□	□	□	□	□
Telephones	□	□	□	□	□
Photocopiers	□	□	□	□	□
Live audio/video feed of briefings, speeches and hearings	□	□	□	□	□
Interview rooms/space	□	□	□	□	□
Computers	□	□	□	□	□
Reference materials	□	□	□	□	□
Internet access	□	□	□	□	□
DC ONLY: TV studio (Foreign Broadcast Support Unit)	□	□	□	□	□
DC ONLY: Televised feeds	□	□	□	□	□

11. Please describe other facilities that you would like the FPC to provide that would assist you in your reporting:

FPC INTERNET SERVICES

Next we’d like to find out more about how you use FPC internet services.

12. Do you use the FPC website in any of the following ways? (Please select one box in each row.)

	Yes	No
To get general background information for a story	□	□
To check a specific fact for a story	□	□
To find links to other websites	□	□
To look at or listen to the transcript of a speech, briefing or press conference	□	□

13. In which one of the ways listed in Question 12 do you most often use the FPC website? Why?

14. Please rate how much you value the following FPC internet services: (Please select one box in each row.)

FPC Product	Do not value at all	Value a little	Value somewhat	Value a lot		Don’t use this section
U.S. Government reports on the FPC website	□	□	□	□		□
Electronic mailing list	□	□	□	□		□
Transcripts of FPC briefings	□	□	□	□		□
Congressional Research Service reports on the FPC website	□	□	□	□		□
Information on key topics and special events on the FPC website	□	□	□	□		□

GENERAL QUESTIONS ABOUT FPC

A few general questions about FPC.

15. Overall, which one FPC product or service do you find the most valuable?

DROP-DOWN BOX:

• Assistance with obtaining press credentials

• Research and information services

• Assistance for foreign press at major events

• Notification of non-FPC press conferences and media events

• DoD liaison

• Video conference (NY only)

• Live briefings on key topics

• Briefings via video conference

• Reporting tours

• FPC listserv

• Transcripts of FPC briefings on FPC website

• Finding contacts, setting up interviews, developing story ideas

• Assistance at major events (summits, openings, conventions, ceremonies)

• TV assistance

• Access to wire services at FPC offices

• Televised feeds at FPC offices

• Newspapers and magazines at FPC offices

• Telephones at FPC offices

• Photocopiers at FPC offices

• Live audio feed of briefings, speeches and hearings at FPC offices

• Interview rooms at FPC offices

• Computers at FPC offices

• Reference materials at FPC offices

• TV studio at Foreign Broadcast Support Unit (DC Only)

16. Why do you value the product or service that you chose above the most?

17. What types of information do you find difficult to gain access to?

17. What new topics, information or programs do you wish were available through FPC?

Overview of major U.S. domestic political and social issues	
Orientations to U.S. institutions	
Roundtables with U.S. business and cultural leaders	
Sports	
Arts/Culture/Literature	
Cross-cultural exchanges	
Professional support and development	
Other (please specify)	_________________________________

17. How many months before major stories (elections, anniversaries, etc) do you anticipate needing FPC assistance?

1-3 months	4-6 months	7-9 months	10-12 months	More than 12 months
				

17. To what extent do you think FPC helps you to provide depth, accuracy, and balance in your reporting?

Not at all	To a limited extent	To a moderate extent	To a great extent		Not applicable
					

PERSONAL BACKGROUND

To wrap up, we’d like to find out a little bit about you.

17. Where are you located?

	Washington DC
	New York City
	Los Angeles
____________________________	Other (please specify)

17. What is your profession?

	Journalist
	Still photographer
	Press attaché/Diplomat
_______________________	Other (please specify)

If you are a journalist please answer the following questions.

If you are not a journalist, please skip to question 31.

17. What type of journalism do you primarily focus on?

Print	
Wire or agency	
Radio	
Television	
Internet	
Other (please specify)	__________________________________

17. For which news organization(s) do you primarily work?

17. For which other news organizations do you work?

26. Are you based in a bureau?

	Yes
	No

27. If you answered yes to Question 26, how many people work in the bureau in which you are based, including yourself?

1	2-5	6-10	More than 10
			

28. What subject do you primarily cover? (Please select one.)

U.S. politics	
U.S. social issues (education, immigration, etc.)	
U.S. foreign policy	
Defense/Security	
Business/Finance/Economics	
Science/Health	
Sports	
Arts/Culture/Literature/Americana	
Entertainment	
Style/Fashion	
Travel	
Other (please specify)	__________________________________

29. What other subjects do you cover at least twice a month? (Please select all that apply.)

U.S. politics	
U.S. social issues (education, immigration, etc.)	
U.S. foreign policy	
Defense/Security	
Business/Finance/Economics	
Science/Health	
Sports	
Arts/Culture/Literature/Americana	
Entertainment	
Style/Fashion	
Travel	
Other (please specify)	__________________________________

30. On average, how many pieces (articles, radio packages, bulletins, video segments, etc) do you file per week?

1-5	
6-10	
11-15	
16-20	
More than 20	

31. Age:

18-24	25-34	35-44	45-55	Over 55
				

32. Sex:

Female	
Male	

33. What is your country of origin? ___________________________________

35. Do you write stories in any of the following languages? (Please select “yes” or “no” in each row.)

	Yes	No
Arabic
Chinese
English
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Russian
Spanish
Other (please specify)	_________________
Other (please specify)	_________________
Other (please specify)	_________________

35. What is the best way for FPC to communicate with you?

Email	
Cell phone or Blackberry	
Fax	
Mail	
Landline	
Other (please specify)	________________________________

36. Please provide any other thoughts or comments about the products and services of the FPC?

37. If you are interested in having someone from FPC contact you to follow up on your input, please provide your contact information.

Phone number	__________________________________
Email address	__________________________________

38. How much time did it take to complete this survey?

DROP DOWN BOX with choices of 1 - 60

Thank you very much for participating in this survey – we value and appreciate your feedback!

SV-2006-0003 14