By using Boolean operators effectively, you can customize and refine your searches to obtain highly relevant results in the NewsMachine system for media monitoring.
To start your media search, use the blocks with operators OR, AND, and NOT, that you will find on the first page when defining your search.
Search Fields in NewsMachine
When creating a search agent, fill in one or more of these three fields to refine your search:
1. “Any of these words” (OR Search):
• Words entered here will return results that include any of the words.
• The system automatically applies the OR operator between words.
Example:
Searching for mentions of cities:
Stockholm Gothenburg Malmö → interpreted as Stockholm OR Gothenburg OR Malmö.
2. “All of these words” (AND Search):
• Words entered here must all appear in the results.
• The system automatically applies the AND operator between words.
Example:
Searching for climate policy articles that include EU:
climate EU policy → interpreted as climate AND EU AND policy.
3. “None of these words” (NOT Search):
• Words entered here will exclude articles containing these words.
• The system automatically applies the OR operator between words for exclusion.
Example:
• If you want articles about Hammarby (a Stockholm district) but not about the football team, enter:
• “Any of these words”: Hammarby
• “None of these words”: football derby match goal Bajen
Note: Leave unused fields blank.
Case Sensitivity:
• Capitalized words: Return only results matching the exact capitalization.
Example: Searching for Apple will not include apple.
• Lowercase words: Match both uppercase and lowercase versions.
Example: Searching for apple includes both Apple and apple.
Practical Examples
Example 1: Excluding Irrelevant Content
• Goal: Find mentions of the Hammarby district in Stockholm, but exclude mentions of the football team.
• “Any of these words”: Hammarby
• “None of these words”: football goal match derby Bajen
Example 2: Searching for Car Safety with Specific Brands
• Goal: Articles about car safety but only for SAAB, Volvo, and Ford, excluding mentions of seatbelts.
• “Any of these words”: SAAB Volvo Ford
• “All of these words”: safety
• “None of these words”: seatbelt
More on Boolean Operators in NewsMachine
For advanced users, you can also click on Advanced Media Agent for those who have basic programming skills, or Agentstatus, if you have adapted more advanced search expressions using Boolean operators.
The Boolean operators OR, AND, NEAR, and SCOPE allow users to refine searches for precise and relevant results within NewsMachine’s media monitoring system.
1. Operator: OR
Function: Broadens your search. Results will include any of the specified words.
• Default Scope: Matches the entire document.
• Other Options: You can limit the search to Headline, Ingress, or Sentence using the “Search Scope” command.
Example:
• If you want articles mentioning either “Stockholm” or “Gothenburg”:
Stockholm OR Gothenburg
Alternative Example:
• For coverage of technology companies like Apple or Microsoft:
Apple OR Microsoft
2. Operator: AND
Function: Narrows your search. Results must include all the specified words.
• Default Scope: Matches the entire document.
• Other Options: You can limit the search to Headline, Ingress, or Sentence using the “Search Scope” command.
Example:
• To find articles about climate and policy:
climate AND policy
Alternative Example:
• Searching for articles that mention renewable energy and EU:
“renewable energy” AND EU
3. Operator: NEAR
Function: Specifies proximity between words in a document. Results will include both words within a certain number of words of each other.
• Syntax: Use NEAR=<number>.
• This operator is not affected by the “Search Scope” setting.
Example:
• Searching for articles where football appears within 10 words of Stockholm:
football NEAR=10 Stockholm
Alternative Example:
• To find news where AI and ethics are closely discussed:
AI NEAR=5 ethics
4. Operator: SCOPE
Function: Restricts the search to a specific section of an article, such as the Title, Ingress, or Title_Ingress.
• Syntax: Use SCOPE=”section”.
Examples:
1. Searching only in Titles:
SCOPE=”TITLE” Company*
2. Searching in both Titles and Ingress (lead or the first paragraph):
SCOPE=”TITLE_INGRESS” Company*
3. Searching in Ingress only:
SCOPE=”INGRESS” Acquisition*
4. Combining with AND:
SCOPE=”TITLE” Company* AND Acquisition*
Alternative Example:
• To find mentions of Tesla specifically in headlines:
SCOPE=”TITLE” Tesla
By using Boolean operators effectively, you can customize and refine your searches to obtain highly relevant results within NewsMachine.
If you would like additional guidance, please let us know.
Our support staff is standing by to help you optimize your media monitoring support@newsmachine.com
PS. Boolean logic was discribed in The Laws of Thought, published in 1846 by English mathematician George Booles.