United States General Accounting Office

GAO Report to the Chairmen, Committee on

Appropriations and Committee on

Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate

June 1997 SUBSCRIPTIONS AND

NEWS CLIPPINGS

Expenditures and

Related Information

Reported by Federal

Organizations

GAO/GGD-97-99

GAO United States

General Accounting Office

Washington, D.C. 20548

General Government Division

B-272705 

June 27, 1997

The Honorable Ted Stevens

Chairman, Committee on Appropriations

United States Senate

The Honorable Fred Thompson

Chairman, Committee on Governmental Affairs

United States Senate

Federal departments and agencies subscribe to newspapers, magazines,

periodicals, and automated news services to enable their employees to

keep informed of current developments relating to the activities of their

organizations. As another method of keeping these employees informed of

such developments, many departments and agencies also produce news

clippings products.1

 This report responds to your request for information

on executive branch expenditures2

 for both subscriptions and news

clippings operations in fiscal year 1996.

As agreed with your offices, this report also provides department and

agency information on (1) the number of subscription copies of selected

major newspapers that are normally used to prepare news clippings

products, (2) the employee benefits reported from subscriptions and news

clippings products, (3) whether guidance is provided to employees about

procuring subscriptions and producing and distributing news clippings

products, and (4) whether the departments and agencies have made or

plan to make changes to improve their subscriptions procurement

processes and news clippings operations.

To obtain the requested information, we sent data collection forms to 14

executive branch departments and 29 of the independent agencies that

had 500 employees or more (hereafter referred to as federal

organizations). As agreed, however, because of the broad scope and

relatively short timeframe for completing our review, we did not

independently verify the accuracy of the information provided. We also did

not validate the benefits reported by the federal organizations. The data

provided by the federal organizations ranged from actual expenditures to

estimates that were based on only a few of the organizational components.

1

News clippings products are generally prepared by government employees’ cutting out articles of

particular interest to their organization, which are then reproduced and disseminated to others in the

organization. News clippings products may also be obtained by contracting out for this service.

2

Expenditures for subscriptions include payments for newspapers, magazines, periodicals, and

automated news services. Expenditures for news clippings operations include the following elements:

personnel, subscriptions, duplication/copying, distribution, and contracted services.

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B-272705 

Furthermore, one federal organization3 did not respond to our survey.

Also, two federal organizations4

 provided 1995 data because they were

included as a part of our survey pretest before 1996 data were available,

but we included these organizations in our analysis.

Our work was conducted in Washington, D.C., from May 1996 to May 1997,

in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

Appendix I is a more detailed discussion of our objectives, scope, and

methodology.

On May 2, 1997, we requested comments on a draft of this report from the

Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). On June 19, 1997,

OMB’s Acting Associate Director for Administration told us OMB had no

comments on the draft report.

Results in Brief For fiscal year 1996, 42 federal organizations reported estimated

expenditures of about $73 million for subscriptions to newspapers,

magazines, periodicals, and automated news services and about $8 million

for news clippings operations. Although federal organizations provided us

with these expenditure data, it should be emphasized that some of these

data are estimates only. Federal organizations do not typically account for

these expenditures separately from other types of expenditures, and some

reporting officials told us they had difficulty making accurate estimates.

Federal organizations reported procuring multiple copies of major

newspapers, such as The Washington Post, that are normally used to

prepare news clippings products. While a few federal organizations

reported procuring 1 or 2 copies of these major newspapers, other

organizations reported procuring over 200 copies of 1 or more of the

newspapers.

Federal organizations generally reported that subscriptions and news

clippings products benefit their employees and increase productivity.

Federal organizations cited several examples of these benefits, such as

providing employees with current information, being a valuable research

tool, providing leads for starting agency investigations, supporting their

organizations’ mission of providing services to citizens, and providing

senior staff with information to respond to inquiries by reporters about

recent events.

3

As of May 30, 1997, the Department of State had not responded to our request for information.

4

The Departments of Commerce and Transportation provided fiscal year 1995 data.

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The procurement of subscriptions by executive agencies, like the

acquisition of other services, is covered under the Federal Acquisition

Regulation (FAR).5

 Twenty-eight of the federal organizations responding to

our survey, or at least 1 of their components, reported having guidance for

procuring subscriptions. Twenty-two of the 28 federal organizations

reported providing organization-specific guidance, such as requiring

management approval to ensure that the subscriptions are mission-related.

Furthermore, 24 federal organizations, or at least 1 of their components,

reported having guidance on how news clippings products should be

produced and distributed in the organization, such as sending the news

clippings products only to high-level officials.

Several federal organizations noted recent or planned actions to improve

their subscriptions procurement processes or preparation of their news

clippings products. These actions included reducing overall spending on

subscriptions, centralizing the subscription process, eliminating

subscriptions to electronic wire services in favor of available Internet

services, and changing news clippings products from paper copies to the

electronic media.

Background As a means of disseminating information to their employees, most federal

organizations expend funds on subscriptions to newspapers, magazines,

and periodicals and often to automated news services. Most federal

organizations use a portion of their subscriptions to prepare news

clippings products for distribution to their employees. The subscriptions

reported by the federal organizations showed a variety of business,

scientific and technical, and government publications that pertain

specifically to their organizations’ missions, while other publications are

more general in nature. For example, business publications procured by

the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) included the American

Banker and Business Week, scientific and technical publications procured

by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) included

Space News and Robotics World, government publications procured by

the Smithsonian Institution included the Congressional Yellow Book and

the Federal Staff Directory, and general publications procured by the

Department of the Air Force included Quality Management and a variety of

local newspapers.

5

FAR Subpart 2.1 defines an executive agency as (1) an executive department, military department, or

any independent establishment as stated or defined in 5 U.S.C. 101, 102, and 104(1), and (2) any wholly

owned government corporation listed in 31 U.S.C. 9101.

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OMB has responsibility for oversight of executive branch expenditures, but

federal organizations are not required to specifically identify subscriptions

expenditures as a part of their appropriations requests. However, federal

organizations are authorized to spend appropriated funds to procure

subscriptions to assist in performing their missions.6

 The FAR provides

federal organizations with uniform policies and procedures for acquiring

goods and services, which include the procurement of subscriptions.

Responding Federal

Organizations

Reported Estimated

Expenditures for

Subscriptions and

News Clippings

Operations

For fiscal year 1996,7 federal organizations responding to our survey

reported estimated expenditures of $73.3 million on subscriptions to

newspapers, magazines, periodicals, and automated news services and

$7.7 million for news clippings operations. These two totals should not be

combined because some of the subscription expenditures were also

included as expenditures for news clippings products.

Furthermore, the nature of the data received from the federal

organizations varied greatly, ranging from actual expenditures to estimates

of a sample of organizational components. Many federal organizations

indicated that their figures were estimates because expenditure totals for

subscriptions and/or news clippings operations were not readily available.

Some federal organizations, such as the Department of Justice and NASA,

told us that these expenditures do not have an object class in the budget

and are often decentralized within the federal organizations. Also, some

federal organizations, such as the Department of Health and Human

Services and the General Services Administration (GSA), said that their

employees use credit cards to purchase subscriptions, which makes

tracking expenditures even more difficult because subscriptions cannot

easily be distinguished from other types of purchases.

As of May 30, 1997, we had received responses from 42 of the 43 federal

organizations we surveyed. The Department of State did not respond to

our survey. When reporting its expenditures, the Executive Office of the

President only provided information for its two components with the most

employees—the White House and OMB. Also, GSA provided information

only on a sample of its components, and the results of that sample could

6

Under 31 U.S.C. 3324 (d)(2), agencies are expressly authorized to use appropriated funds to purchase

subscriptions without violating the advance payment prohibition set forth in this section.

7

The Departments of Transportation and Commerce provided fiscal year 1995 expenditures because

these federal organizations were a part of our pretest, which was done before fiscal year 1996 figures

were available.

Page 4 GAO/GGD-97-99 Subscriptions and News Clippings
B-272705 

not be projected to the entire agency; therefore, GSA’s reported

expenditures are understated.

Table 1 shows the 43 federal organizations that we surveyed and their

reported expenditures for subscriptions and news clippings operations for

fiscal year 1996.

Table 1: Expenditures Reported by

Federal Organizations for

Subscriptions and News Clippings

Operations, Fiscal Year 1996 Fiscal year 1996 expenditures

Dollars in thousands

Federal organization Subscriptions

News clippings

operations

Agency for International Development $400.7 $65.2

Armed Forces Retirement Home 30.6 0

Commodity Futures Trading Commission 415.8 153.4

Corporation for National Service 6.0 16.9

Department of Agriculture 8,066.9 664.8

Department of Commercea 500.2 380.8

Department of Defense 4,690.9 922.9

Department of Education 826.4 318.6

Department of Energy 13,387.8 524.7

Department of Health and Human Services 9,455.0 295.4

Department of Housing and Urban

Development 1,202.3 194.3

Department of the Interior 4,238.6 263.3

Department of Justice 7,714.1 517.7

Department of Labor 1,067.4 346.7

Department of State b b

Department of Transportationa 67.0 221.9

Department of the Treasury 6,099.0 376.3

Department of Veterans Affairs 312.6 98.0

Environmental Protection Agency 1,577.2 282.5

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 50.9 25.0

Executive Office of the Presidentc 365.9 201.0

Federal Communications Commission 262.0 79.7

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 936.5 46.0

Federal Emergency Management Agency 87.0 61.3

Federal Reserve System 723.7 1.5

Federal Trade Commission 418.3 42.5

General Services Administrationd 79.8 57.8

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2,749.5 115.9

(continued)

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B-272705 

Fiscal year 1996 expenditures

Dollars in thousands

Federal organization Subscriptions

News clippings

operations

National Archives and Records Administration 93.0 25.3

National Credit Union Administration 37.5 4.5

National Labor Relations Board 194.7 42.0

National Science Foundation 101.2 44.9

Nuclear Regulatory Commission 423.4 144.5

Office of Personnel Management 170.9 52.8

Peace Corps 314.7 8.0

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 183.4 70.3

Railroad Retirement Board 49.2 0

Securities and Exchange Commission 1,458.1 142.7

Small Business Administration 75.0 19.0

Smithsonian Institution 789.0 48.1

Social Security Administration 782.7 230.0

Tennessee Valley Authority 345.2 63.7

United States Information Agency 2,589.9 539.3

Total $73,340.0 $7,709.4e

Note: The totals for subscriptions and news clippings should not be added together because

some of the subscriptions expenditures are also included as news clippings expenditures.

aThe Departments of Commerce and Transportation provided fiscal year 1995 data.

bThe Department of State did not respond to our survey.

cThe Executive Office of the President reported data only for the White House and OMB.

dGSA provided data for only a sample of components; therefore, the results cannot be projected

to the entire agency.

eTotal does not add due to rounding.

Source: Federal organization responses to the GAO survey.

Responding Federal

Organizations

Reported Procuring

Multiple Copies of

Some Newspapers

Federal organizations responding to our survey reported receiving

multiple copies of the same newspapers that were used to produce news

clippings products. These subscription copies were generally provided to

the federal organization’s management officials with some copies of the

newspapers going to the organization’s libraries and other centralized

locations. We specifically looked at federal organizations’ subscriptions to

three major newspapers (The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post,

Page 6 GAO/GGD-97-99 Subscriptions and News Clippings
B-272705 

and The New York Times) since these newspapers were almost always

used by federal organizations in their news clippings operations.

Table 2 shows the number of copies of these newspapers that we were

able to identify from the data each federal organization provided for fiscal

year 1996. These newspapers usually made up only a small portion of a

federal organization’s subscriptions because most of the subscriptions

were for periodicals that appeared to be either mission-related (such as

professional and technical journals) or more general in nature. For

example, at the Department of Energy’s headquarters technical library,

only about $39,000 (or 4 percent) of its $970,000 in total reported

expenditures on subscriptions was for the newspapers it procured in fiscal

year 1996.

Table 2: Estimated Number of Copies of Selected Newspapers Procured by Federal Organizations, Fiscal Year 1996

Number of procured newspaper copies

Federal organization

The Wall

Street

Journal

The

Washington

Post

The New

York Times

Agency for International Development 19 4 6

Armed Forces Retirement Home 3 2 1

Commodity Futures Trading Commission 25 13 10

Corporation for National Service 1 1 1

Department of Agriculture 71 40 24

Department of Commercea 91 39 58

Department of Defense 126 121 55

Department of Education 17 20 16

Department of Energy 200 55 70

Department of Health and Human Services 45 67 72

Department of Housing and Urban Development 46 50 45

Department of the Interior 31 34 23

Department of Justice 231 151 192

Department of Labor 62 20 32

Department of State b b b

Department of Transportationa 16 19 16

Department of the Treasury 285 97 119

Department of Veterans Affairs 17 2 3

Environmental Protection Agency 39 47 33

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 6 8 8

Executive Office of the Presidentc 64 76 70

(continued)

Page 7 GAO/GGD-97-99 Subscriptions and News Clippings
B-272705 

Number of procured newspaper copies

Federal organization

The Wall

Street

Journal

The

Washington

Post

The New

York Times

Federal Communications Commission 13 7 8

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 399 1 2

Federal Emergency Management Agency 5 6 8

Federal Reserve System 104 15 63

Federal Trade Commission 45 14 10

General Services Administrationd 3 1 0

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 42 63 45

National Archives and Records Administration 3 5 3

National Credit Union Administration 0 0 0

National Labor Relations Board 2 2 2

National Science Foundation 11 8 13

Nuclear Regulatory Commission 24 18 22

Office of Personnel Management 23 33 20

Peace Corps 2 3 3

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 28 6 5

Railroad Retirement Board 8 1 1

Securities and Exchange Commission 66 13 31

Small Business Administration 32 18 14

Smithsonian Institution 10 14 18

Social Security Administration 6 15 4

Tennessee Valley Authority 8 3 5

United States Information Agency 304 470 468

Total 2,533 1,582 1,599

Note: Totals include subscriptions that were for daily (Monday through Friday) or more frequently;

Sunday only, etc., subscriptions were not included.

aThe Departments of Commerce and Transportation provided fiscal year 1995 data.

bThe Department of State did not respond to our survey.

cThe Executive Office of the President reported data only for the White House and OMB.

dGSA provided data from only a sample of components; therefore, the results cannot be

projected to the entire agency.

Source: Federal organization responses to the GAO survey.

Page 8 GAO/GGD-97-99 Subscriptions and News Clippings
B-272705 

Responding Federal

Organizations Cited

Benefits of

Subscriptions and

News Clippings

Products

In our survey, we asked federal organizations to describe any benefits to

their employees of providing subscriptions to newspapers, magazines, and

periodicals and producing their news clippings products. Federal

organizations that responded to this question generally said that

subscriptions and news clippings products help provide their employees

with information necessary to perform their jobs. However, some

organizations provided the following more specific benefits. For example:

• SEC estimated that approximately 16 percent of all active SEC investigations

began with a lead from the news media.

• The Tennessee Valley Authority said that there is a compelling need for

timely information in the changing utility industry.

• The Department of Education noted that news clippings products provide

senior staff with information to respond to inquiries by reporters about

recent events.

• The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said that, in addition to

keeping its staff current, its news clippings products provide a valuable

research tool that is also used by other government agencies.

• The National Science Foundation reported that its highly technical

employees would find it almost impossible to effectively carry out its

mission without access to the many specialized journals available through

subscriptions.

• According to one of Energy’s laboratories, its subscriptions give

employees fast, convenient access to information contained in primarily

scientific and engineering professional journals that report research

findings.

• The library at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center reported that

subscriptions provide employees with access to scientific and engineering

publications that are essential to Goddard’s role as NASA’s Lead Center for

Scientific Research.

According to some federal organizations, providing subscriptions to their

customers is a part of their missions. The Armed Forces Retirement Home

said that the vast majority of its subscriptions are provided for its

residents, not its employees. The Office of Personnel Management’s

Eastern Management Development Center noted that subscription copies

are used in its seminars and as reading references for training participants.

Also, several of the schools within the Department of the Interior’s Bureau

of Indian Affairs noted that newspapers, magazines, and periodicals are

used by their students as learning tools and by their teachers as

instructional tools.

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B-272705 

Some Reporting

Federal Organizations

Had Guidance for

Obtaining

Subscriptions and

Disseminating News

Clippings Products

When responding to our survey, 28 federal organizations, or at least 1 of

their components, reported that they had guidance for procuring

subscriptions.8

 The procurement of subscriptions by executive agencies,

like the acquisition of other services, is covered under the FAR;

9

 however,

some federal organizations said that they also had their own specific

guidance in place. The following 28 organizations reported having

guidance:

Department of Agriculture

Department of Commerce

Department of Defense

Department of Education

Department of Energy

Department of Health and Human Services

Department of Housing and Urban Development

Department of the Interior

Department of Justice

Department of Labor

Department of the Treasury

Department of Veterans Affairs

Environmental Protection Agency

Executive Office of the President

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Federal Trade Commission

General Services Administration

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Archives and Records Administration

National Labor Relations Board

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Personnel Management

Railroad Retirement Board

Smithsonian Institution

Social Security Administration

United States Information Agency

8

Some of these federal organizations used the term “guidance” to refer to the FAR. However, the FAR,

when applicable, is more than guidance because it has the force and effect of law.

9

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve System are not covered by the

FAR.

Page 10 GAO/GGD-97-99 Subscriptions and News Clippings
B-272705 

Of the 28 federal organizations that reported having guidance, 3 referred to

general guidance such as the FAR, and 3 indicated that they had unwritten

guidance or provided no documentation of it. The remaining 22 federal

organizations provided copies of their organization-specific detailed

guidance. For example, several of the federal organizations provided the

following information:

• The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) provided a copy of its

directive called the Periodical Subscription Management Program.

10 This

directive specifies that (1) subscriptions to periodicals for direct delivery

to Commission offices are to be limited to those essential for the work of

the office and (2) since employees in the Commission’s bureaus and

offices have access to assorted publications and newspapers via electronic

databases on their computers, general interest, academic, trade, and

loose-leaf publications are not to be purchased if they are available

on-line.

• The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in its manual on library services,11

states that the library is to acquire primarily advanced books and journals

containing information and data the Commission staff need to perform

official functions. The library also is to obtain news-type publications

describing recent events or developments of interest to Commission staff.

• The Department of Labor has an internal manual section12 that addresses

the specific numbers of copies of certain newspapers (such as The

Washington Post) and magazines (such as Time and Newsweek) that can

be purchased by officials at headquarters and in the regions. Purchases of

these publications are limited because employees already have access to

them through news clippings products prepared by the Office of

Information and Public Affairs.

Furthermore, 24 federal organizations, or at least 1 of their components,

reported having organization-specific guidance for who is to receive

copies of news clippings products. This guidance was usually not a

formally written document. For example, the Social Security

Administration reported that its guidance is set at the discretion of the

Press Officer, and that currently news clippings products are distributed to

Associate Commissioners and executive staff. The following federal

organizations reported having news clippings guidance:

10FCC Directive FCCINST 1103.1, January 29, 1996.

11NRC Manual, Chapter NRC-0214, Library Services, September 27, 1982.

12Department of Labor Manual, DLMS-2-1218, January 1983.

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Agency for International Development

Department of Agriculture

Department of Commerce

Department of Defense

Department of Health and Human Services

Department of Housing and Urban Development

Department of the Interior

Department of Justice

Department of Labor

Department of Veterans Affairs

Environmental Protection Agency

Executive Office of the President

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Archives and Records Administration

National Credit Union Administration

National Science Foundation

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Personnel Management

Small Business Administration

Social Security Administration

Tennessee Valley Authority

United States Information Agency

Responding Federal

Organizations Cited

Efforts to Improve

Subscriptions

Procurement

Processes and News

Clippings Operations

Several federal organizations cited actions and/or plans to improve their

subscriptions procurement process or their news clippings operations. For

example, two federal organizations specifically mentioned centralizing

their subscriptions processes. As a result of centralizing its subscription

procurement process, the Federal Trade Commission reported having

reduced duplication and increased sharing of resources by routing many

publications and information to several staff members. The Federal

Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) reported having centralized its

subscriptions acquisition process for cost and labor savings. FDIC also said

its library has full-text stories on-line; contracts are pending to put other

stories on-line; and the library plans to examine its number of

subscriptions to printed newspapers.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it is planning to

eliminate its Associated Press newswire service, which costs $28,000, in

favor of the Internet services currently available from more than 55

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newspapers. The National Labor Relations Board said that, beginning with

fiscal year 1997, its subscription to the Daily Labor report changed from

paper copies, which cost $176,820, to electronic copies, which will cost

$36,000, a savings of $140,820. The Railroad Retirement Board reported

that as a result of a major review of all subscriptions it has reduced its

spending on subscriptions by $30,000 (21 percent) since fiscal year 1994.

The Agency for International Development said that its labor costs for

news clippings products had declined and distribution had increased with

the use of on-line services. Paper copies of press clips are delivered to the

Administrator’s morning senior staff meeting only. Employees may visit

the press office and make their own copies; press clips are also available

daily via E-mail and agency intranet.

Several federal organizations, or one of their components, said they were

considering automating their news clippings operations in some manner

(e.g., to use local area networks, E-mail, or the Internet). These

organizations included the following: the Department of Education; the

Department of Health and Human Services’ National Institutes of Health;

the Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and

Firearms; the Tennessee Valley Authority; the Securities and Exchange

Commission; the National Science Foundation; and the Corporation for

National Service.

We are sending copies of this report to the Director of the Office of

Management and Budget, the Secretaries of each executive department,

the head of each independent agency, and the Ranking Minority Members

of your Committees. Copies will be made available to others on request.

Major contributors to this report are listed in appendix II. If you have any

questions concerning this report, please call me on (202) 512-4232.

Bernard L. Ungar

Associate Director, Federal Management

 and Workforce Issues

Page 13 GAO/GGD-97-99 Subscriptions and News Clippings
Appendix I 

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

As agreed with your offices, our objectives were to identify the following

information on the executive branch departments and largest independent

agencies: (1) the total expenditures for subscriptions to newspapers,

magazines, and periodicals as well as automated news services for fiscal

year 1996; (2) the total expenditures associated with news clippings

operations for fiscal year 1996; (3) the number of subscriptions federal

organizations received of selected major newspapers; (4) the benefits

federal organizations said their employees receive from both subscriptions

and news clippings products; (5) whether federal organizations provided

guidance for the procurement of subscriptions and the production and

distribution of news clippings products; and (6) any examples of changes

federal organizations have made or plan to make to improve their

subscriptions procurement processes and news clippings operations.

We chose the 14 executive branch departments and 29 independent

agencies that had 500 employees or more (according to Office of

Personnel Management data of Jan. 1996) because these federal

organizations were the most likely to have the largest share of

expenditures for subscriptions and news clippings operations. We

developed and pretested a data collection form to obtain this information

from two federal organizations before sending the final version of the

survey to the entire universe. Because of the number of federal

organizations involved and the timeframe we were asking for their

responses, we delivered the majority of our surveys by hand or by Express

Mail on November 1, 1996.

In our survey, we asked each federal organization for its fiscal year 1996

expenditures and other related information for subscriptions and news

clippings operations. We specifically asked that all federal organization

components be included, even field offices. Our only exceptions on

obtaining fiscal year 1996 expenditures were for the Departments of

Commerce and Transportation. We pretested our survey at these two

departments using fiscal year 1995 expenditures since the fiscal year 1996

expenditures were not yet available. Because of the difficulty Commerce

and Transportation had in obtaining this information, we did not request

that they update their figures for fiscal year 1996. However, we did ask

Commerce and Transportation officials if they believed that their fiscal

year 1996 figures would be substantially different from their fiscal year

1995 figures, and they said they did not.

The federal organizations responded to our survey using a variety of

formats and levels of completeness. For example, some federal

Page 14 GAO/GGD-97-99 Subscriptions and News Clippings
Appendix I 

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

organizations prepared detailed, consolidated lists of subscriptions by

component, while other organizations submitted voluminous copies of

individual procurement requests for subscriptions, with no

organizationwide consolidation. Also, some federal organizations provided

complete and detailed responses by component to all items in our survey,

but others did not. For example, one department submitted information

that was not tabulated accurately at either the component- or

department-level. In this case, we obtained the department’s agreement

with our tabulation of its information.

Many federal organization responses required some follow-up. If we had

questions about the submissions, we contacted organization officials for

clarification. However, we did not independently verify the accuracy of the

information provided. Some federal organizations noted that their figures

were difficult to obtain and were estimates because (1) organizations had

no separate budget line item for subscription purchases or news clippings

operations, (2) decentralized operations made it difficult to collect such

data, and (3) the use of credit cards for subscription purchases made it

difficult to track those expenditures.

To address our objectives, we processed the federal organizations’

responses as follows:

• For our expenditure totals for subscriptions and news clippings

operations, we used the figures from the federal organization’s summary

section. Even though a few subscriptions were for multiple years, we

included the entire amount of expenditures if it was made in fiscal year

1996.

• From the listings of federal organization subscriptions, where possible, we

counted the number of subscription copies each organization received of

three selected major newspapers (The Wall Street Journal, The

Washington Post, and The New York Times), which were also the

newspapers that most of the organizations used in their news clippings

operations. The federal organizations showed the subscriptions in a

number of forms—e.g., daily (Monday through Friday) or more frequently

or Sunday only. When tabulating our total number of subscription copies

for a newspaper, we included only the subscriptions that were for daily or

more frequent issues.

• From narrative responses, we reviewed the benefits that federal

organizations said they received from both subscriptions and news

clippings products and used some of these responses as examples.

Page 15 GAO/GGD-97-99 Subscriptions and News Clippings
Appendix I 

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

• We reviewed the narrative responses for those federal organizations

answering “yes” to our questions about whether they provided guidance to

employees on procuring subscriptions and distributing news clippings

products, and we used some of these responses as examples.

• We reviewed the narrative responses for those agencies answering “yes” to

our question about making or planning to make changes to their news

clippings operations, and we used some of these responses as examples.

Some federal organizations also cited improvements that they were

making in their subscription procurement processes, and we used

examples of these as well.

Page 16 GAO/GGD-97-99 Subscriptions and News Clippings
Appendix II 

Major Contributors to This Report

General Government

Division, Washington,

D.C.

James H. Burow, Assistant Director

Michael W. Jarvis, Evaluator-in-Charge

Warren Smith, Senior Evaluator

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